Aston Villa striker Julian Joachim eased his side's relegation worries with
his fifth goal of the season as Chelsea suffered another European hangover to
dent their hopes of a Champions' League place.
Joachim's previous four goals this season had all come as a substitute but he
was given a starting role in the absence of injured striker Stan Collymore.
And he put the memories of his midweek miss against Atletico Madrid, that left
Villa 1-0 down from the first leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-final tie, behind him
as he coolly slotted the ball past Chelsea keeper Ed de Goey after 50 minutes at
Stamford Bridge.
Midfielder Lee Hendrie had weaved his way through the static Chelsea defence
and when the ball rebounded back to him off Jody Morris, he found Joachim
unmarked on the edge of the six-yard area and he took his time before picking
his spot in the far corner.
The victory lifted Villa above Newcastle to 13th place, 11 points clear of the
relegation zone with games to come in the next week against struggling Barnsley
and Crystal Palace at Villa Park.
But while new Villa boss John Gregory now has a 100% Premiership record since
taking charge, the top flight's other new recruit, Gianluca Vialli, has now lost
all three league games while in the hot seat, despite his cup successes.
And he was booked for losing his temper and pulling the hair of youngster Lee
Hendrie in the second-half of a poor Chelsea performance, with several players
appearing tired after their midweek European exertions.
Chelsea had lost both of their previous league games straight after away
European Cup Winners' Cup matches, going down 4-2 to Liverpool after the trip to
Slovan Bratislava and 1-0 to Bolton after the Tromso game.
Although Vialli restored himself to the side which proved victorious in
Seville against Real Betis on Thursday night, the Blues had to field a far
younger side to that line-up.
With Gianfranco Zola dropped to the bench, Mark Hughes suspended and Dan
Petrescu, Dennis Wise and Steve Clarke injured or rested, youngsters Andy Myers,
Mark Nicholls and Jody Morris were brought in.
As Villa dominated the first-half, Chelsea's only real chance came after nine
minutes, when an inspirational back-heel from Tore Andre Flo, who scored twice
in midweek, found the onrushing Vialli but he placed his snap-shot just wide.
At the other end, Dwight Yorke hit the side-netting early on and de Goey had
to dive full-length to tip a header from Joachim around the post for a corner.
Yet for all Villa's possession, they failed to create a better chance until
Joachim's goal five minutes after the break. However, the young striker had
chances thereafter to add a second, with de Goey advancing to deny him with his
body on one occasion.
The last 10 minutes were full of excitement after Chelsea had brought on Zola
for Roberto di Matteo and Laurent Charvet for Myers.
Ugo Ehiogu did well to beat Charvet to a Duberry cross, while Zola shot well
wide after Flo found him in space with just three minutes left. But Villa were
not to be denied and left the field to rapturous applause from their relieved
travelling fans.
Teams
Chelsea: De Goey, Leboeuf, Vialli, Duberry, Di Matteo (Zola 61),
Myers (Charvet 68), Flo, Sinclair, Nicholls, Newton, Morris.
Subs Not Used: Lambourde, Hitchcock, Hughes.
Booked: Vialli.
Aston Villa: Bosnich, Staunton, Southgate, Ehiogu, Taylor,
Draper, Yorke, Joachim, Wright, Grayson, Hendrie.
Subs Not Used: Charles, Oakes, Nelson, Collins, Byfield.
Booked: Staunton.
Goals: Joachim 51.
Att: 33,018
Ref: S J Lodge (Barnsley).
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