Chelsea edge out Villa to maintain winning start

José Mourinho made it two wins out of two in his second spell as Chelsea FC manager but his team had to work hard for a 2-1 home victory against Aston Villa FC.

Branislav Ivanović's 73rd-minute goal decided the game in Chelsea's favour but up to then it was a contest that could have gone either way as Villa – 3-1 winners at Arsenal FC last Saturday – underlined their improvement since their previous visit to Stamford Bridge last December, when they were crushed 8-0.

The home team went ahead with an early own goal in a fixture brought forward because of the Londoners' UEFA Super Cup commitments next week. There were just seven minutes on the clock when Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan saved an Eden Hazard shot only to see the ball rebound off defender Antonio Luna's chest and back over the goalline.

On the stroke of half-time Christian Benteke equalised with his third goal of the season, the Belgian collecting a Gabriel Agbonlahor cross and squeezing a left-foot shot past Petr Čech. Eventually, though, Chelsea edged back in front as Ivanovic headed in the winner from a Frank Lampard free-kick.