Villa keep punchless Chelsea at bay

CHELSEA'S quest to win a third straight Premiership title hit the buffers again last night as they were held to a goalless draw by Aston Villa, thereby passing up the opportunity to close the gap on leaders Manchester United following their draw against Newcastle on New Year's Day.

The champions now trail by six points, but manager Jose Mourinho declared pre-match that injured captain John Terry could return for their next league match against Wigan, with Arjen Robben and Petr Cech also nearing full fitness.

Didier Drogba missed a golden opportunity to put Chelsea ahead after eight minutes. Michael Essien made a powerful run down the right after skipping past Liam Ridgewell's challenge and his cross found Drogba completely unmarked in the centre, but the Chelsea striker opted for the volley and the ball bounced over Gabor Kiraly's crossbar.

Villa were showing plenty of fight and commitment in the centre of the park with Steven Davis, Gavin McCann and Craig Gardner biting in with the challenges. But Ridgewell was again left stranded by a run from Drogba and it needed Olof Mellberg to make a crucial headed interception to deny Salomon Kalou.

Aston Villa were forced into a substitution after 27 minutes when Gardner pulled up after stretching to reach the ball and he was replaced by Isaiah Osbourne, the 19-year-old who has agreed a new three-and-a-half-year contract.

Drogba was finding space all over Villa Park and one teasing right-wing centre picked out the run of Ashley Cole whose header was saved at the second attempt by Kiraly. Then Chelsea had to make a substitution after 34 minutes when Khalid Boulahrouz limped out of the action to be replaced by Geremi at right-back, with Paulo Ferreira moving inside to partner Ricardo Carvalho at centre-half.

Chelsea began the second half by dominating possession and territory but could not find a way to get behind the Villa defence. Essien was the first to try his luck from distance, followed by Lampard, but both shots were a long way off target.

The home side, who drew 1-1 with the champions at Stamford Bridge back in September, almost snatched a winner as Wilfred Bouma's corner swung in towards the near post where Ridgewell's head met the ball ahead of Hilario's fist, but his flick flew across the face of the empty net and wide.

Lampard had Chelsea's final chance but, after latching onto Drogba's knock-on, skied over from inside six yards.