Fortunate Ivanovic fires Blues
Print Edition
Branislav Ivanovic headed a second-half winner as Chelsea escaped from a lackluster performance against Aston Villa with a 2-1 victory in the English Premier League on Wednesday.
The Serb rose to power a free-kick from Frank Lampard into the back of the net on 73 minutes, after Christian Benteke had canceled out an early own goal from Villa defender Antonio Luna at Stamford Bridge.
The Chelsea defender was perhaps lucky to be on the pitch, however, as moments before he grabbed the winner he was adjudged to have elbowed Benteke with referee Kevin Friend producing only a yellow card when it could have been red. The Villa dugout was up in arms again in stoppage time when John Terry appeared to handle a cross from Fabian Delph but Friend waved away their appeals.
“It is easy to come on here and have sour grapes, but it is there for everybody to see. He (Ivanovic) clearly elbowed Christian Benteke, it was a sending off,” Villa manager Paul Lambert said.
“The penalty was a penalty, everybody saw that. He (referee) missed two huge moments. How can you miss that magnitude of a decision? It is beyond me.”
The win means Chelsea has a perfect six points from its first two games after beating Hull City 2-0 on Sunday, while Villa could not repeat its shock 3-1 win over Arsenal on Saturday.
“A draw wouldn’t have been an unfair result — they fought a lot,” Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said. “They created great difficulties.”
After a patient and largely pedestrian start, Chelsea was handed the opener on a plate.
Oscar set Eden Hazard through down the left and the Belgian’s side-footed finish was parried by Brad Guzan into the path of Luna, who bundled it into his own net.
The hosts, however, failed to capitalize on their advantage and Benteke ensured they paid the price with the leveler on the stroke of halftime from a low Gabriel Agbonlahor cross.
Villa had great chances to go ahead in the second half with Agbonlahor hitting over and Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech producing two great saves to deny Andreas Weimann either side of Ivanovic’s winner.
There was further controversy in stoppage time when Villa was denied a clear penalty as Terry jumped to clear a cross from Delph, but caught the ball with his flailing arm.
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