Aston Villa ~ General Chat & Latest News

[Oscar Cardozo]

GOAL CHELSEA! 3-2! A brilliant one-two between Alex and Shevchenko sees the Brazilian on the edge of the area with the ball and only Carson to beat as Davies comes skidding across to miss the tackle. A thumping right footed shot whizzes past Carson and into the back of the net. Surely its all over for Villa now

[Oscar Cardozo]

Joe Cole brings Bouma crashing down to earth to give away a free kick but its not in a dangerous area

[Oscar Cardozo]

Pizarro with a chance to really put the match beyond doubt as he fires a shot goalward from 12 yards out on the left ... but Carson gets a touch to it and taps it out for a corner

[Oscar Cardozo]

GOAL VILLA! 3-2! This match is by no means over as Villa equalise in dramatic fashion! Ferreira brings Young down on the left of midfield, Young thumps the ball into the area where Laursen is waiting to beat the offside trap and turn the ball into the back of the net with a great, right footed volley in the air!

[Oscar Cardozo]

Kalou attempts to run on to a long ball from __ but the ball is just too far in front of him and Carson collects with ease

[Oscar Cardozo]

John Carew comes off in order to let Luke Moore on to the pitch

[Oscar Cardozo]

It's all about last ditch defence from Villa as Chelsea pepper the visitors back line, first Kalou, then Cole and finally Pizzaro

[Oscar Cardozo]

Ricardo Carvalho is given his marching orders for a shocking two footed challenge on Agbonlahor which has left the latter on the ground in a fair bit of pain

[Oscar Cardozo]

Goalscorer Shevchenko is brought off by Avram Grant with Shaun Wright-Phillips going on in place on him

[Oscar Cardozo]

Joe Cole is furious he has been judged offside on the left wing!

[Oscar Cardozo]

In the meantime though Claudio Pizarro is coming off for John Obi Mikel

[Oscar Cardozo]

Kalou whips a cross in from the right wing but it is just too far in front of Wright-Phillips to prove a real chance for the hosts

[Oscar Cardozo]

Joe Cole is brought down just on the edge of the area by Laursen allowing Chelsea a golden chance to sneak the winner three minutes from time ...

[Oscar Cardozo]

GOAL CHELSEA! 4-3! Michael Ballack curls the ball around the right hand side of the wall and into the bottom corner of the net

[Oscar Cardozo]

PENALTY VILLA! Yet more drama at Stamford Bridge as Dowd awards Villa a last minute penalty as Cole is judged to have made a clearance with his arm on the line. Red card Ashley Cole for the handball ... yellow card Ballack for dissent ... Barry to take the penalty...

[Oscar Cardozo]

GOAL VILLA! 4-4! Barry gets the well-deserved equaliser for Villa sending Cech to the right before thumping the ball into the left hand corner of the net!

[Oscar Cardozo]

There is the final whistle and Villa take a well-deserved point away from Stamford Bridge

[Freddy Adu]

Chelsea´s Grant vows to keep fighting


Written by: AFP

	Chelsea manager Avram Grant, seen here 10 December 2007, vowed he would never concede defeat in the English Premier League title race, despite his Chelsea side losing ground on front-runners Arsenal and Manchester United.

LONDON (AFP) - Avram Grant vowed he would never concede defeat in the English Premier League title race, despite his Chelsea side losing ground on front-runners Arsenal and Manchester United.

The third-placed Blues face a tough fight to keep themselves in the contest going into the New Year and their injury and suspension problems are mounting, leaving Grant without key players.

Chelsea drew 4-4 at home to Aston Villa on Wednesday, coming back from 2-0 down to take a 4-3 lead with two minutes to go, before having defenders Ricardo Carvalho and Ashley Cole sent off -- both of whom will be suspended for three matches.

On Saturday, Chelsea host Newcastle -- defeated 1-0 at lowly Wigan on Wednesday -- before a west London derby at Fulham on Tuesday.

Grant is determined to emerge from the games with the maximum six points and keep up Chelsea's hopes bringing the Premier League trophy back to Stamford Bridge after a one-year absence.

"As long as we have a chance we will do everything we can," Grant said.

"We will not give up. Any difficulty for me is a challenge. We dropped the points so I'm not happy with this.

"We continue to fight for all the titles that we can take. It's not good to drop points but it's not the end of the world, even though we are very disappointed."

With impending suspensions for Carvalho and Cole, and midfielder Frank Lampard pulling up in the 4-4 draw with a thigh injury, Grant faces doing more patching up work on his team.

Grant said life was already tough enough without defender John Terry, striker Didier Drogba and winger Florent Malouda.

"I want them back as soon as possible," he sighed.

"This is the situation and we'll have to make the best of it."

He doubted England midfielder Lampard, on 99 club goals for Chelsea, would be fit for the rest of the festive period.

"I don't think he will play in the next games but how bad it is we will have to wait and see," the former Israel coach said.

Aston Villa took a 2-0 lead thanks to two goals from Scotland striker Shaun Maloney.

Villa defender Zat Knight was dismissed for a foul in the penalty box. Chelsea's Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko scored the spot kick and equalised five minutes after the interval.

Blues centre-half Alex scored and Villa's Martin Laursen equalised before a frantic final 10 minutes.

Carvalho's two-footed lunge earned a red card then team-mate Michael Ballack scored an 88th-minute free kick.

Cole was sent off for a handball on the line and Villa captain Gareth Barry scored the injury time equaliser from the resulting penalty.

Villa boss Martin O'Neill said his side had to exert greater control after taking the lead in matches.

"That's what we need to learn to be good at. The top four sides have that," he said.

"To come back from 3-2 behind and twice coming back from the jaws of defeat -- great effort," said the former Northern Ireland captain.