Chelsea 2-0 Aston Villa: Chelsea Destroy Villa in Sublime Fashion..

A devastating performance from Chelsea absolutely destroyed the highly-rated Aston Villa side. On a weekend when title rivals Arsenal could only manage a draw and Liverpool struggled to overcome Man City, Chelsea simply walked Villa off the park.

Chelsea started the day with five players out with injuries. Essien, Drogba, Deco, Carvalho, and Alex were all unavailable, which meant Ivanovic got his first premiership start alongside Terry in defence.

Chelsea attacked Villa from the word go and had a couple of long range efforts saved by Freidel on four and six minutes respectively, the former bringing a good save from the American.

The game continued in a similar manner, with Villa defending desperately and Chelsea trying to find a way around the disciplined defence.

On 16 minutes, Anelka lobbed a cute pass to the edge of the six-yard box and Lampard, who looked odds-on to score, sent his header just wide.

This was a clear sign of things to come!

Five minutes later, on 21 minutes, that was indeed the case as Chelsea took the lead and it was fully deserved.

Malouda collected Davies' poor clearance and found Lampard, who in turn slipped a superb pass for Joe Cole, who thumped the ball easily past Friedel from 10 yards out.

Only three minutes later, Chelsea hit the bar. Anelka belted a 25-yarder that beat Friedel but not the woodwork.

These were desperate moments for Villa, who so far had offered nothing in attacking terms.

Lampard then hit a ferocious freekick that Freidel could only parry for a corner. The resulting corner was headed over by Terry.

By now, Chelsea were camped inside the Villa half!

A minute before half time, Chelsea doubled their lead. It had been coming.

Cole pulled it back to Ballack on the penalty spot whose shot was parried by Freidel. He managed to block Anelka's follow-up as well, but the ball fell to Anelka again and he easily tucked it away.

This fixture last season at Stamford Bridge ended 4-4. For a while it looked like there could be eight goals again, and it would have been a surprise if Villa got any of them.

Chelsea were playing some absolutely sublime football and Villa simply could not cope.

The second half continued in much the same way as the first, with Chelsea attacking and Villa defending.

Chances went begging for Ballack, Lampard, and Kalou respectively, where better finishing could have resulted in more goals.

Even Di Santo got in on the act, getting on the end of a sumptuous move, but he cut inside his man and made space for himself only to blaze a shot high over the bar.

A few minutes later, Mikel fired into the side-netting after a neat interchange between him and Lampard.

This was an absurdly one-sided game considering Villa fancy themselves as the fourth or fifth best team in the country.

In the end, the 2-0 score-line flattered the Villans. They just didn't turn up and Chelsea were in no mood to pass out any favours.

Chelsea hang on to top spot for at least another week, along with Liverpool, who themselves bagged three points when they turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win against Man City.

Man of the Match: Frank Lampard

Goal Scorers: Joe Cole 21', Anelka 44'

Bookings: Petrov, Shorey

Possession: Chelsea 61% - 39% Aston Villa