Jose Mourinho's Chelsea made it two wins out of two in the English Premier League courtesy a narrow 2-1 win over Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge Wednesday.
Branislav Ivanovic popped up with the all-important winner in the 77th minute, heading home from a pinpoint freekick from Frank Lampard, after Christian Benteke had canceled out an early own goal from Antonio Luna.
Chelsea, like they did against Hull City in the opening game of the season, began well, taking the lead in the seventh minute courtesy an own goal from Luna.
Oscar gave the ball to Eden Hazard down the left with the Belgian then forcing a save from Brad Guzan. However, unfortunately for Villa, the rebound ricocheted off Luna and into the back of the net.
In the corresponding fixture last year, Villa were smashed 8-0 by Chelsea, but there was no threat to that scoreline as the away side equalized right on the stroke of halftime.
Gabriel Agbonlahor, who was a nuisance for the Chelsea defence throughout the game, got past Ivanovic down the left before cutting the ball back to Christian Benteke, who made no mistake with an assured left-footed finish for his third goal of the season.
Villa missed several chances with Agbonlahor and Andreas Weimann failing to give the away side the lead, and the misses proved to be costly with Chelsea taking the lead thirteen minutes from time.
Ron Vlaar was penalized for a push on Romelu Lukaku, and from the resulting Lampard freekick, Ivanovic struck a header from six yards into the back of the net.
Weimann was then denied brilliantly by Petr Cech late on before vehement appeals for handball on John Terry fell on deaf ears as Chelsea held on for the win.
Chelsea next face a crunch clash against Manchester United on Monday, while Villa will play their first home game of the season when they host Liverpool in the late game on Saturday.
