Rumours of Chelsea's demise would appear to have been exaggerated; rumours of Aston Villa's have not. Villa all but invited Chelsea yesterday to remind those who were doubting their pedigree that there are still at least three clubs capable of winning the Premiership this season.
An emphatic victory lifts them back into third place and on to the coat-tails of Arsenal and Manchester United and reinforces the belief that they will not give up the chase.
"We are still in a good position to finish our season well, although it is not entirely in our hands as the two teams above us are really flying," said Chelsea manager Gianluca Vialli.
In recent weeks Vialli and Villa's John Gregory have both been informed at regular intervals that their clubs' Premiership aspirations had been reduced to rubble. But both men are natural optimists and, if the team which Gregory has assembled were as single-minded as their mentor, the pronounced loss of form which has seen them drop like a stone could possibly have been avoided.
Yesterday morning, as the bells of local churches rang out their opposition to such an ungodly kick-off time, Villa's limitations were again laid bare.
On New Year's Day they led the Premiership. This morning, after a calamitous sequence of results, they are so far off the pace that Gregory's Holy Grail is no longer the title but mere European qualification.
The statistics are grim indeed: one point from 24, no league win since mid-January, five consecutive home defeats - all that and a support which has reached the point of open rebellion.
Chelsea won in a canter, their attacks breaking over the Villa defence like waves over a seafront wall. Whatever the permutation, whatever the personnel, they are still arguably the most attractive side in Britain.
Although Vialli has worked tirelessly to eradicate the "maverick factor", he has wisely made no attempt to rein in those free spirits whose subtle skills have carried the new Chelsea to the forefront of the English game.
The real glory of Vialli's side is its ability to move seamlessly between defending and attacking, a complex procedure which seems sometimes to be undertaken more by instinct than design.
Smarting from seven defeats in their previous eight games, Villa put up such feeble resistance in the opening quarter of an hour that Chelsea should have been over the hill and disappearing into the distance long before a subdued audience had cleared its head of the previous night.
Chelsea cut through the sleepy forest of Villa defenders like piano wire through butter and it was only ill-fortune and poor finishing which prevented them from amassing a decisive advantage before half-time.
Gianfranco Zola and Dennis Wise both spurned presentable opportunities but sandwiched in between those indiscretions was an awful miss by Tore Andre Flo, who raced on to Bjarne Goldbaek's pass only to drive the ball into the legs of Mark Bosnich when scoring appeared easier.
But Flo is both patient and persistent and, nearing the hour, he was to atone, striking the blow which was to hole Villa below the waterline. Released down the inside-right channel by Albert Ferrer's intelligent pass, he cut inside the penalty area, and inside his marker, before steering a precise drive just inside a post.
Unforgivably, if predictably, Villa promptly abandoned all hope and it was no great surprise to see Chelsea pouring salt into gaping wounds as the game neared its conclusion. With five minutes remaining Goldbaek sent a fierce, rising drive into the roof of the Villa net and there was even time for Flo to collect another goal from an acute angle after neat work by the quietly impressive Jodi Morris.
"There can be no running away from our problems. We shall just have to confront them head-on," said Gregory.
ASTON VILLA: Bosnich, Watson, Southgate, Barry, Wright, Stone, Hendrie (Taylor 83), Scimeca, Thompson, Collymore (Joachim 74), Dublin (Merson 74). Subs Not Used: Draper, Oakes. Booked: Thompson.
CHELSEA: De Goey, Ferrer, Le Saux, Desailly, Leboeuf, Petrescu (Lambourde 79), Goldbaek, Wise, Morris, Flo (Nicholls 90), Zola. Subs Not Used: Duberry, Newton, Hitchcock. Booked: Ferrer, Desailly, Wise. Goals: Flo 59, Goldbaek 86, Flo 90. Attendance: 39,217.
Referee: G Barber (Pyrford).
