Villa add to Chelsea´s away-day blues

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti was sent crashing to his second successive Premier League defeat away from Stamford Bridge as Aston Villa won 2-1 here on Saturday.

James Collins delivered the killer blow with his first goal in four seasons to extend Villa’s unbeaten home run to six games and heighten optimism that Martin O’Neill’s side can unsettle the established order.

But the worry lines on Italian boss Ancelotti’s forehead will become more pronounced with more performances like this, despite Didier Drogba’s seventh goal of the campaign having given the league leaders the advantage at Villa Park.

Richard Dunne capitalised on dreadful defending to equalise and Collins pounced early in the second half to condemn Chelsea to another defeat on the road.

Defeat saw Chelsea remain top but reigning champions Manchester United will be back at the summit if they beat Bolton later on Saturday at Old Trafford.

Two seasons ago Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich stormed out of Villa Park in a rage after a 2-0 defeat, with then manager Jose Mourinho sacked days later.

Ancelotti is under no immediate danger but the alarm bells will surely be ringing already, following their insipid defeat at Wigan.

This was no more than Villa deserved, however, and victory saw them go fifth in the table.

England coach Fabio Capello certainly picked a cracker to attend this weekend. He did not see Villa’s Emile Heskey, though, until nine minutes from time.

Whether he was misquoted or not, England striker Heskey’s rant about spending too much time on the bench fell on deaf ears. While his place with Capello’s squad seems relatively assured, he still cannot find a way into O’Neill’s starting XI.

Referee Steve Bennett was taken ill before the game, with fourth official Kevin Friend swiftly promoted.

And Friend was given his first major test in the 12th minute, following a scrappy start, when Gabriel Agbonlahor appeared to fall under the challenge of Jose Bosingwa, but he waved away the home side’s penalty appeals.

Chelsea then increased the frustration for a furious, fidgeting O’Neill when Drogba swivelled 35 yards from goal before unleashing a speculative shot that somehow caught out Brad Friedel to find the net.

The ball took a savage dip just before Friedel but the American goalkeeper should still have done better.

It seemed a case of how many Chelsea would score for a period after that as Villa looked well short.

But Villa found an equaliser 13 minutes before half-time through Dunne as Frank Lampard mistakenly flicked on Ashley Young’s corner into the path of the Republic of Ireland international, who could not miss.

The second-half was looking delicately balanced until the 51st minute when Villa took the lead, thanks to more suspect defending from Ancelotti’s side.

Young’s corner somehow bypassed John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho to find Collins lurking at the far post and he had the simplest of tasks heading into an unguarded net, with Petr Cech stranded.

Friedel repelled close-range efforts from Deco and Florent Malouda but Chelsea’s afternoon plumbed further depths when Bosingwa limped off.

The late rally the Londoners needed never really materialised and these are worrying times for Ancelotti.