SOCCER - FA Premiership/ Aston Villa 3 Chelsea 2: Now no one will give a tinker's cuss for Chelsea's chances of catching Arsenal at the top of the Premiership.
After losing poorly at Villa Park yesterday they may now have their work cut out to finish second, since third-placed Manchester United can close the gap to three points, with a match in hand, by beating Leicester City tonight.
The Champions League, in particular the first leg of their semi-final in Monaco a week today, is now Chelsea's sole priority.
Having made four alterations to a winning team for Saturday's moribund scoreless draw with Middlesbrough, Claudio Ranieri made another eight here (plus one last-minute to the bench when Juan Sebastian Veron tweaked a thigh muscle in the warm-up), and little of the organisation or collective determination which had knocked Arsenal out of Europe survived.
Chelsea's manager had already declared Arsene Wenger's side champions, and to judge from yesterday's performance few of Ranieri's players were willing to argue with him.
It still took Aston Villa a while to realise they were facing a team now prepared to play out the season at home in the hope of achieving glory abroad. David O'Leary's patched-up side conceded a sloppy early goal to Hernan Crespo, and for a while thereafter struggled to get into the game.
Then, just past the half-hour, Chelsea needlessly gave away a penalty and, once Darius Vassell had driven the ball straight over the spot where Marco Ambrosio would have been had he stood still, the pattern of play was drastically altered.
Two more goals in a little over three minutes early in the second half gave Villa a 3-1 lead and, though Crespo's second goal was easily the best of the afternoon, it was scored too late to make a difference.
The victory has stimulated Villa's chances of winning themselves a place in Europe next season. They are now a point behind Liverpool and Newcastle United, the teams leading the chase for the Champions League in fourth place.
Compared with Chelsea, Villa's resources are puny, but their performance here was a reminder of the difference that a surge of confidence can bring. Juan Pablo Angel, Villa's top scorer by a distance, is expected to be out for another three weeks with a knee injury, so they had to persist with Peter Crouch, a gangling, 6ft 6in striker who, when he goes for a high ball, unfolds like a set of souvenir postcards.
Players of Crouch's height and build cannot help looking awkward even when they are providing the right touches, which he often did yesterday. With Vassell buzzing around him and the overlaps of Ulises de la Cruz and JLloyd Samuel exposing Chelsea on the wings, Villa frequently stretched a defence which before yesterday had conceded more than two goals only once this season.
For a time it looked as if Chelsea would carry the play to their opponents with sufficient frequency to bring them a lasting command. Certainly it appeared that way after 11 minutes when, following a slick build-up by Damien Duff, Adrian Mutu and Frank Lampard, Wayne Bridge's cross from the left was nodded against the near post by the Romanian with Crespo tapping in the rebound.
But Villa's 32nd-minute penalty, after Mario Melchiot had muscled Gareth Barry to the ground, altered the complexion of the game.
In the 49th minute, a header from Crouch gave Vassell the space to square the ball to Thomas Hitzlsperger, whose strong left foot drove a low shot into the far right-hand corner of the net.
In the 52nd, a long throw-in from Samuel on the left reached Crouch near the byline and, with the Chelsea defence aghast, he nodded the ball back to Lee Hendrie who hooked in Villa's third.
Ranieri went on shuffling his hand, trying to remember who were the trumps, but the excellence of Crespo's goal in stoppage time was poor consolation for Chelsea's second bad result in three days.
If Arsenal beat Leeds United on Friday, Chelsea will be 10 points behind them. Should Ranieri get a decision tomorrow concerning his future at Stamford Bridge, it may not be the one he is seeking.
Guardian Service
ASTON VILLA: Sorensen, De la Cruz, Mellberg, Johnsen, Samuel, Hendrie (Whittingham 55), McCann, Hitzlsperger, Barry, Vassell (Dublin 88), Crouch (Luke Moore 82). Subs Not Used: Postma, Ridgewell. Goals: Vassell 39 pen, Hitzlsperger 49, Hendrie 52.
CHELSEA: Ambrosio, Melchiot (Gallas 61), Terry, Huth, Bridge, Parker, Lampard, Geremi, Duff (Gronkjaer 71), Mutu (Cole 71), Crespo. Subs Not Used: Gudjohnsen, Sullivan. Booked: Huth. Goals: Crespo 11, 90.
Referee: J Winter (Cleveland).
