Chelsea Held In Eight-Goal Villa Thriller

Chelsea Held In Eight-Goal Villa Thriller Chelsea 4-4 Aston VillaGareth Barry’s last-ditch penalty rescued a point for Aston Villa in a truly memorable Boxing Day encounter at Stamford Bridge.

What a game! Moments of genius, stupidity and refereeing blunders all combined to create an unforgettable festive feast of football at Stamford Bridge as nine-man Chelsea and ten-man Aston Villa played out a 4-4 draw.

Villa made by far the better start to the game, deservedly taking the lead through Maloney before doubling their advantage courtesy of Cech's blunder.
Andriy Shevchenko's penalty and wonderstrike put the Blues level before Alex completed the turnaround.

Laursen's equaliser, Ballack's free-kick, Gareth Barry's late penalty and red cards for Ashley Cole, Ricardo Carvalho and Zat Knight added to the chaos as it ended honours even.

First Half

Villa came racing out of the blocks, but Ashley Young’s poor effort failed to trouble Cech, who was passed fit at the eleventh hour.

The visitors then forced several corners, troubling Ferreira down Chelsea’s right, before young nutmegged Pizarro in the six-yard box and Carew flashed a header over the bar.

Chelsea were out of sorts and in the 14th minute were made to pay. Agbonlahor whipped in a left-footed cross to Carew, the Norwegian nodded the ball down and Maloney was on hand to tap past Cech.

Frank Lampard blazed wide for Chelsea but the Blues continued to waver: Agbonlahor’s shot from an angle beat Cech, but also the post. Villa were cutting through Chelsea’s defence with ease and Essien did well to thwart a buoyant Carew on several occasions.

An injury to Lampard then forced Avram Grant to send on Michael Ballack for his Premiership return. Joe Cole’s skill in the area met a disappointing end as he failed to make Carson work, while at the other end Villa continued to threaten as Agbonlahor almost doubled the visitors’ lead.

Cech came to the rescue then, but was made to look foolish minutes later. Maloney zipped down the right wing, cutting inside before launching a speculative effort from 20 yards. The diving Cech let the ball bounce in front of him and into the net.

Just as Chelsea’s long unbeaten home record looked in jeopardy, the Blues earned a penalty on the stroke of half-time as Zat Knight nudged Ballack. The German fell very easily: the jury is out over whether the challenge merited a spot-kick. But referee Phil Dowd had to follow the letter of the law by showing Knight the red card. Regardless, Shevchenko’s cool dispatch sent Carson the wrong way to reduce Chelsea’s deficit.


Second Half

Reduced to ten men, Martin O’Neill sacrificed double goal scorer Maloney for the defensive-minded Davies. Chelsea were lifted by their late first-half penalty, and with Villa now lacking options going forward, the Blues took advantage.

Shevchenko’s hit a tame effort at Carson, but within five minutes of the re-start an absolute pile driver from the Ukrainian had put the home side level. 25 yards out, Shevchenko’s blast left Villa’s keeper with no chance. The crowd sensed the tide had turned, but had no idea what awaited them.

Young’s pacey run-and-shot forced a corner for Villa, but another cracker put Chelsea in front. Defender Alex ran forward with the ball, beating Curtis Davies thanks to a beautiful one-two with Shevchenko and a classy finish into the bottom corner of the net.

Pizarro and Shevchenko had further efforts for Chelsea, but just as the result seemed beyond doubt, Aston Villa incredibly got themselves back into the match. Young’s 72nd-minute free-kick from the left evaded all bar an unmarked Martin Laursen at the back post. The Dane tapped the ball past Petr Cech from six yards to make it 3-3.

The Boxing Day drama continued as Ricardo Carvalho’s shocking two-footed challenge on Agbonlahor earned him a straight red. Fortunately the Villa star was injured, but it was now ten against ten. But Chelsea were undeterred and continued to push for a fourth goal.

Joe Cole put a menacing cross into the area for Kalou before winning a free-kick in the D with three minutes to go. The decision was dubious but Michael Ballack confirmed his return by expertly side-footing the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal. A simple, yet tremendous finish.

This game had everything, and there was one final twist as a goalmouth scramble at the other end saw Ashley Cole stop a goalbound effort on the line using his arm. A Penalty, a red card and a rocketed shot into the net from Gareth Barry made it and 4-4 rounded off the action in an incredible game that neither side deserved to lose.


Line-ups:

Chelsea (4-4-2): Cech – Ferreira, Alex, Carvalho, A Cole – Kalou, Essien, Lampard (Ballack 26), J Cole – Pizarro (Obi 85), Shevchenko (Wright-Phillips 82)

Subs not used – Hilario, Ben Haim


Villa (4-4-2): Carson – Mellberg, Laursen, Knight, Bouma (Harewood 90) – Maloney (Davies 46), Reo-Coker, Barry, Young – Agbonlahor, Carew (Moore 78)

Subs not used – Taylor, Gardner


Goals:
0-1 Maloney, 14 (Carew)
0-2 Maloney, 44 (unassisted)
1-2 Shevchenko, 45pen (Knight fouled Ballack)
2-2 Shevchenko, 50 (Kalou)
3-2 Alex, 66 (Shevchenko)
3-3 Laursen, 72 (Young)
4-3 Ballack, 87 (unassisted)
4-4 Barry, 90 pen (handball by A Cole)

Cards:
Yellow: Essien, Alex, Ballack / Reo-Coker, Harewood
Red: Carvalho (serious foul, 80), A Cole (handball, 90)/ Knight (professional foul, 45)


Attendance: 41,686