The Blues have certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons in the race for the Champions League places with a hard-fought 1-0 win away at Aston Villa.Nicolas Anelka will claim the plaudits after netting his 15th league goal of the season to help his side leapfrog their foes to move into third place.
There were some good showings from Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba too as the Blues showed a resemblance to the side that Jose Mourinho built some time ago, grinding out a result from a narrowly held lead.
The Portuguese's last league game in charge for the Pensioners came at Villa Park and ended in defeat. An Avram Grant and a Luiz Felipe Scolari later, Guus Hiddink inaugurates his Chelsea reign with a win here - the club's first in a decade. First Half
A side in tremendous form on the road, Aston Villa displayed frailties in front of their own fans.
Chelsea had not managed to net a first-half league goal in 2009 prior to kick-off, but it took only 18 minutes against slack hosts to rectify that.
Villa huffed and puffed in the early stages, Gabriel Agbonlahor leaning back on a shot inside the Chelsea box, but there seemed to be a component missing from the hosts' attacking play.
Lampard fired a warning shot over Brad Friedel's crossbar after eight minutes as the men in black eased into proceedings.
Hiddink's side made use of their possession, leaving Aston Villa unable to manufacture anything of their own.
Eighteen minutes in and Chelsea had created a goal right out of the top drawer.
Lampard's nimble footwork allowed him to evade the attentions of two Villa defenders on the edge of the box, and his lightness on his feet was matched by an exquisitely disguised through ball. Nicolas Anelka was onto it in a flash, and dinked an instinctive finish over Brad Friedel.
After taking the lead, Chelsea passed their way around Villa, looking every inch the side that outclassed the midlanders at Stamford Bridge in autumn.
Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and Nicolas Anelka were interchanging positions with fluency, and it was Drogba from the left who almost set-up a second on 28 minutes.
He cut in and tried to find Anelka on the six-yard line; it was intercepted but Lampard looked better placed on the penalty spot.
Kalou was next to test the Villa back line; he played a one-two with his compatriot Drogba and was denied only by a last-ditch Carlos Cuellar clearance. The resulting corner was headed on target by John Terry, but Friedel reacted smartly.
Nonetheless, the hosts tried to muster a response, and it was from set-pieces that they asked the most questions. Ashley Young smashed a finely executed free-kick onto the crossbar just after the half-hour, although it should never have been given, and another delivery five minutes before the break was almost met by a lunging Curtis Davies.
Martin O'Neill produced a response from his charges at the half-time break and they competed better in the second half - after John Terry almost immediately added a second, that is.
Frank Lampard's corner was inch perfect; the captain rose unchallenged and saw his headed effort repelled by Stiliyan Petrov on the line.
The hosts managed to wrest a degree of control though, with the likes of Ashley Young and James Milner having more of a say.
Also, Gabriel Agbonlahor was beginning to have the better of his battle with Alex. Indeed, the England forward had a good chance to level proceedings after a misjudgement from the Brazilian on the edge of the box, but he curled his shot too close to Petr Cech.
Milner's strong volley from the resultant corner was well charged down by a resurgent Didier Drogba and Chelsea escaped.
There was danger again minutes later though, when Gareth Barry's fine strike was parried by Petr Cech, the Villa captain's left-footed shot coming after an misdirected John Terry header at the edge of the Chelsea box.
As Villa changed shape to accommodate John Carew, Chelsea struggled to be as attentive and diligent in possession as they had been in the first half. Passes were slipshod, the ball wasn't retained. Villa maintained the territorial advantage through to the closing stages, but couldn't summon the knock-out punch.
Combined with this, there still existed the threat of a break at the other end. After Drogba wasted an opportunity from a difficult angle, Chelsea almost added the second and clincher. Jose Bosingwa played a one-two with the Ivorian, who was just inside the box, and fired his first-time drive at Friedel.
Deco prompted Michael Ballack from the left-side at the death, but Friedel was again on hand to fulfil his side of the bargain, saving strongly from a powerful strike.
Nonetheless, an old, familiar tale unfolded at Villa Park, and that was the return of 'the 1-0 to Chelsea'.
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