Villa hold Chelsea in thriller
Gareth Barry kept his nerve from the penalty spot
Also In The News
|
A "significant" step has been made in understanding why some people are alcoholics, scientists claim. |  |
Wednesday, 26, Dec 2007 10:06
A late Gareth Barry penalty earned Aston Villa a thrilling 4-4 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
In a blockbuster Boxing Day match, Zat Knight was sent-off for Villa and Chelsea pair Ricardo Carvalho and Ashley Cole also saw red. But the home side will be disappointed with a point after they came back from 2-1 down to lead 3-2 and 4-3.
Villa started the much better side against a sluggish Chelsea team and deservedly took the lead after 15 minutes. A cross from Gabriel Agbonlahor found John Carew in the box and he flicked on for Shaun Maloney to volley in.
Chelsea were finding it difficult to stamp their authority on the game and their cause was not helped when captain Frank Lampard had to go off because of a thigh injury.
And things got worse for the home side when the usually reliable Petr Cech gifted Maloney his second goal. The Scottish forward had a shot from 20 yards and Cech looked to be saving it comfortably on one knee, but the ball bobbled off his arm into the net.
Chelsea looked to be heading for their second defeat against Villa this season but got back into the game in first half stoppage time. Michael Ballack was bundled over by Knight in the penalty area and Andriy Shevchenko scored from the spot as Knight was sent-off.
Shevchenko then made the score 2-2 at the start of the second-half when he hammered a ball past Scott Carson in the Villa goal from the edge of the penalty area.
The Chelsea comeback was complete 16 minutes later when Alex marched out of defence and swapped passes with Shevchenko before he fired home to send the Chelsea fans wild.
Villa responded in terrific fashion as burly centre-half Martin Laursen volleyed the ball past Petr Cech from an Ashley Young free-kick.
Chelsea lost Carvalho for an awful challenge on Agbonlahor. But with three minutes left on the clock, Germany captain Ballack looked to have won the game for Chelsea with a beautiful free-kick.
But Villa again came back and when Cole stopped an Agbonlahor header on the Chelsea goal-line with his hand, referee Phil Dowd awarded a penalty and sent off Cole. Barry stepped up and coolly converted the penalty to end a fantastic game.