Mourinho's glittering galaxy begins to fade

Aston Villa 0 - Chelsea

The crowd roared, the manager beamed, the players celebrated. It was obviously a magnificent victory. Or a heroic point won away from home and against the odds, like Northern Ireland's at the Millennium Stadium. Or perhaps a home draw, for that was what Aston Villa had achieved against Chelsea on Saturday to provoke such reactions.

The crowd roared, the manager beamed, the players celebrated. It was obviously a magnificent victory. Or a heroic point won away from home and against the odds, like Northern Ireland's at the Millennium Stadium. Or perhaps a home draw, for that was what Aston Villa had achieved against Chelsea on Saturday to provoke such reactions.

This was Aston Villa, possessors of a proud heritage which includes the World Club Championship, the European Cup, seven league titles and seven FA Cups. More pertinently, they are also a team which has finished in the top eight of the Premiership in eight of the last nine seasons and were sixth last time out.

Yet the mood of the day was epitomised by the steward who concluded "that was a good point". In saying so, he was unconsciously making a good point of his own. It is that the league is now so unbalanced as to invite intervention from the Monopolies Commission.

"There is a top five who are ahead of everyone else and within that group there are three who can win the league," said David O'Leary, the Villa manager. With Manchester United hindered by injury and suspension, that trio are currently reduced to a duo. Merely ending Chelsea's 100 per cent record was therefore, to Villa, an achievement.

And maybe it is. While Jose Mourinho was ransacking Europe this summer with a further £80m of Roman Abramovich's riches, O'Leary was limited to the £3m acquisition of Martin Laursen. The Dane was unavailable on Saturday so Mark Delaney, a right-back, was pressed into service in the centre. Had Chelsea been similarly afflicted they could have brought in William Gallas, the French international centre-half, or Robert Huth, who had kept his eye in by marking Ronaldo for Germany in midweek. As it was Huth, like Damien Duff, Scott Parker, Wayne Bridge, Glenn Johnson and Géremi were not even required on the bench. On Villa's bench were Luke Moore, yet to make a league start for Villa, and Steven Davis, yet to appear even as a sub.

This is why O'Leary talks down expectations. Middlesbrough, Tottenham, Bolton and, whisper it, Birmingham, have all invested more heavily in improving their squads. Villa will only make the top six again if they avoid injuries.

So on Saturday O'Leary changed his team, aping Chelsea's formation and thus curbing his wide players, Nolberto Solano and Gareth Barry.

The Peruvian played in the hole, as did Lee Hendrie when he replaced him. The left-footed Barry was on the right. It meant Villa, like Chelsea, played narrow. O'Leary said the changes were made with victory in mind but they seemed primarily designed to stymie Chelsea.

The scoreline suggests it worked, but O'Leary was helped by Mourinho's bizarre refusal to involve Duff. Yet even without the width he would have offered, Chelsea had chances enough to win. In the opening half, flowing moves created opportunities for Joe Cole, who miskicked, and Didier Drogba, who hit the bar. Villa's neutered attack produced one chance, but only after Solano went wide and delivered a cross Juan Pablo Angel volleyed over.

Chelsea dominated after half-time, but Mourinho then withdrew Cole and the link between midfield and attack was lost. Before it was re-established, the out-of-touch Darius Vassell wasted the chance to put Villa ahead after slick work by JLloyd Samuel, Hendrie and Moore.

Chelsea revived and Drogba should have won a stone-cold penalty when felled by Ulises de la Cruz, only to be ludicrously cautioned for "diving" by Rob Styles. An incandescent Mourinho justifiably criticised this season's refereeing standards before claiming: "It would have been two penalties in some countries. It was ridiculous."

De la Cruz responded: "He went down as if diving into a swimming pool." Chelsea could still have won, but Delaney cleared Adrian Mutu's chip off the line. So there was action and controversy but the game did not meet expectations. Increasingly, one travels to Chelsea matches full of anticipation at the prospect of seeing such a glittering team but leaves disappointed. "Mourinho's come to win matches, not friends," was another astute local observation.

Does it matter? One can stomach Arsenal's dominance because of the entertainment they provide, even if their matches can become an exhibition. The verdict on Chelsea, and the unbalanced Premiership, was delivered by the sight of 6,500 empty seats - and do not blame the TV coverage, it was pay-per-view. Besides, there were similar scenes at the untelevised 3pm kick-offs. Less than half the weekend's Premiership programme was sold out. It used to be "House Full" signs all over the country. The bubble is in danger of bursting.

Aston Villa (4-1-2-1-2): Sorensen; De la Cruz, Delaney, Mellberg, Samuel; McCann; Barry, Hitzlsperger; Solano (Hendrie, 57); Vassell (Whittingham, 90), Angel (L Moore, 66). Substitutes not used: Postma (gk), Davis.

Chelsea (4-1-2-1-2): Cech; Paulo Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, Babayaro; Makelele; Tiago (Smertin, 66), Lampard; Cole (Mutu, 60); Kezman (Gudjohnsen, 60), Drogba. Substitutes not used: Pidgeley (gk), Gallas.

Referee: R Styles (Waterlooville).

Booked: Chelsea: Drogba.

Man of the match: McCann.

Attendance: 36,691.