Chelsea ... 2 Aston Villa ... 0: When Gianfranco Zola does not start a match Chelsea's football flickers more than it twinkles. Yet on Saturday they were eventually too bright for an Aston Villa team that shone for half an hour, then showed all the incandescence of a 15-watt bulb.
Chelsea are now unbeaten in 10 Premiership matches and will approach the Christmas and New Year games nicely tucked into the top three. Should this sanguine state of affairs survive encounters with Southampton, Leeds and Arsenal over a hectic seven-day period then the prospect of Champions League football returning to Stamford Bridge next season will be real indeed.
The form, fitness and most of all the stamina of the 36-year-old Zola will be crucial to Chelsea's ability to maintain their present consistency over the latter half of the season. The diminutive Italian will need the occasional rest and much is going to be depend on his manager's sense of timing as to when this should be.
The only other time Claudio Ranieri had kept Zola on the bench this season Chelsea lost 3-2 at home to West Ham. On Saturday, however, Ranieri's decision to leave him out and reunite Eidur Gudjohnsen with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was vindicated.
Gudjohnsen responded with an enthusiastic, industrious performance, scoring one goal and having a big influence on the other.
Between them the Icelander and the Dutchman scored 52 times last season - not a bad partnership to have as an option. How long Ranieri will have that option remains to be seen after Hasselbaink's outburst at the weekend, just before the transfer window opens, in which he said of his manager: "When he doesn't like you it is over. His is very hard and cold. Right now I'm just waiting to see what will happen."
It is a measure of Chelsea's greater expectations that despite victory Ranieri was disappointed, saying his team were too susceptible to Villa's counter-attacks. "In the first half we played 4-2-4 like Brazil in the 1960s, but without their players," he said. "We didn't play very well."
There was a sharp contrast in the way the teams responded to adversity. Whereas Villa appeared to take little encouragement from their early near misses, Chelsea worked hard to remedy their faults. Ranieri has the most parsimonious defence in the Premiership and it is Chelsea's willingness to defend in all parts of the field which has made them so hard to beat.
With Zola appearing for only the last 14 minutes Chelsea's attack lacked its usual automatic ignition and needed to be crank-started by Frank Lampard's runs from midfield along with his ability to find colleagues in space with quick, precise passes.
Chelsea took the lead when Hasselbaink's shrewdly judged pass sent in Gudjohnsen to beat Peter Enckelman via the far post three minutes before half-time. Enckelman's save by the near post denied the striker a second goal immediately after but in the 57th minute the Villa goalkeeper, distracted by the advancing Gudjohnsen, allowed a dipping, bouncing cross from Lampard to sail into the goal.
Guardian Service
bCudicini, Melchiot, Gallas, Terry, Le Saux, Zenden (Babayaro 67), Morris, Lampard, Stanic (Gronkjaer 55), Hasselbaink (Zola 77), Gudjohnsen. Subs not used: de Goey, Ferrer. Goals: Gudjohnsen 42, Lampard 57.
ASTON VILLA: Enckelman, Samuel, Barry, Mellberg, Staunton, Leonhardsen (Angel 61), Hitzlsperger, Hendrie, Hadji, Dublin (Kinsella 61), Vassell (Allback 62). Subs not used: Postma, De la Cruz. Booked: Staunton, Dublin, Hendrie.
Referee: M Riley (W Yorkshire).
