February 21st, 2009 
Lovely The new Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink started with a vital victory at Aston Villa that keeps their flickering Premier League title hopes alive. The Nicolas Anelka goal sealed the points with a clever finish in the 19th minute after he was set up with a nice pass from Frank Lampard.
John Terry saw a header saved by Brad Friedel and another cleared off the line by Stiliyan Petrov. Ashley Young struck the bar with a free-kick for Villa in the first half, but Chelsea survived to seal the win. It was a display of contrasts from Hiddink’s new charges, with Chelsea outstanding in the first 45 minutes, but showing signs of vulnerability after the break when Martin O’Neill’s side pressed. 
Hiddink, however, will only be interested the three points that take them above Villa into third place in the table. The Dutch coach, in temporary charge until the end of the season, was able to restore Terry after suspension and paired Anelka and Didier Drogba in attack.
And he was rewarded with an early goal, beautifully created by Lampard and expertly finished by Anelka. Lampard demonstrated superb close control to dribble out of a tight situation then provide a perfect pass for Anelka to chip over the advancing Friedel for his 21st goal of the season.
Terry almost doubled Villa’s lead just after the half-hour with a powerful header from Lampard’s corner, but Friedel reacted well to palm the ball to safety.
Villa’s only serious first-half threat came after 33 minutes, when referee Mark Halsey awarded a contentious free-kick when Emile Heskey tumbled under the tamest of challenges from John Obi Mikel.
Young curled a 20-yard effort against the bar, and Heskey headed the rebound wide when he should have scored. Terry was again thwarted from a Lampard corner three minutes after the interval, when Petrov cleared his header off the line. It was the signal for Villa to finally show some of the power and pace that elevated them to third place in the Premier League before kick-off.
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