[Player Ratings] Aston Villa 1-0 Chelsea: Red Cards Prove Costly As Chelsea Slip Up

Chelsea suffered a bad day at the office at Aston Villa, losing 1-0 with two players and manager Jose Mourinho sent off.

Fabian Delph scored the only goal of the game with a superbly improvised flick that gave Petr Cech no chance. Chelsea had chances of their own and Nemanja Matic had a goal chalked-off for handball but tensions boiled over in the second half.

Willian was dismissed for a second yellow card after a foul on Delph, although the Brazilian will feel hard done by as their seemed to be little contact for the second offence. His countryman Ramires then walked for a stamp on Karim El Ahmadi in injury time.

Both managers at Villa Park walked onto the pitch where the incident occurred but it was Mourinho who was sent to the stands for venting his frustrations at referee Chris Foy.

The result sees second and third placed Liverpool and Arsenal close the gap on the league leaders, with just four points separating them. Manchester City’s win at Hull means they are six points behind Chelsea, although Manuel Pellegrini’s side have three games in hand.

Player Ratings

Cech- 6- nothing he could do about Delph’s stunning goal. Other than that, he was hardly troubled.

Azpilicueta- 7- was always a threat down Chelsea’s left side and worked tirelessly.

Terry- 7- had a solid game by all accounts.

Cahill- 6- struggled to keep tabs on Christian Benteke at times.

Ivanovic- 6- a dependable performance but he may be disappointed that the cross which gave Villa their goal came from his side.

Matic- 7- good performance. Thought he’d opened the scoring but the Serbian used part of his arm to control the ball. Man of the Match

Ramires- 5- had a decent game but the Brazilian did himself no favours with a terrible studs-up lunge for which he was shown the red card.

Willian- 6- a little unlucky to be sent off before Delph’s goal but the Brazilian should have taken more care having already been booked.

Oscar- 5- Brad Guzan saved well from the Brazilian in the second half but in general he struggled to make an impact.

Hazard- 7- one of Chelsea’s better attacking players, looking dangerous in and around Villa’s penalty area.

Torres- 5- another afternoon of toil for the Spaniard. Nothing he tried came off.

Subs

Schurrle- 5- came on for Oscar in the 67th minute but the sub only disrupted what rhythm Chelsea had and the German was slow adapting to the frantic pace of the game.

Ba- 5- another Chelsea striker to struggle. Failed to make any impact at all, although the Senegal striker only ever has the chance to impress from the bench. Should be given a chance from the start.

Mourinho tried to play down his side’s chances of getting three points from Villa Park, saying he would be happy with a point- was he right to say so?…Was it a defeatist attitude?…Did they get what they deserved?…There was no doubt about Foy’s decision to dismiss Ramires at the end, but what did you think of Willian’s red card?…Was it a bit soft?…please leave your comments below…