Chelsea 4 - 4 Aston Villa

Villa started brightly and took the lead when Carew and Maloney combined to put Villa ahead. Lampard went off injured, replaced by Ballack who immediately got stuck in. Ballack then rolled back the years, playing a quality first-time pass to Joe Cole, who shot straight at Carson. A comedy of errors resulted in two goals just before the break. Villa doubled their lead following a gift from Cech as he failed to stop a soft Maloney shot, only to see the ball embarrassingly roll into the net. Following his blunder at Arsenal, rumours of Cech’s severe back problems will likely persist. But Chelsea were the recipients of their own present, as Knight was sent-off for recklessly bringing down Ballack in the box, and Shevchenko converted the penalty. Sheva then levelled the match minutes after the restart with a fantastic shot past Carson. Alex then burst through after excellent team build-up play to put the Blues into the lead for the first time in the game. However Villa’s 10-men showed the fighting spirit, and Laursen volleyed home Young’s free-kick. The end-to-end drama then went into overdrive as Carvalho’s horrible two-footed tackle on Young earned him a straight red, only for Ballack to restore Chelsea’s advantage with a free-kick. But there was a final twist as Cole was sent-off for a controversially claimed handball, and Barry slotted home the penalty to make it 4-4. Breathless.

Tags : EPL 2007/2008, Premiership Highlight, England Football

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