05/10/2008  Chelsea 2 Aston Villa 0
 
Luiz Felipe Scolari may have an injury crisis on his hands but Chelsea's title challenge continues apace, with Aston Villa the latest to be swept aside at Stamford Bridge.

First-half goals from Joe Cole and Nicolas Anelka kept Scolari's men at the top of the Barclays Premier League, and it could have been more but for the reflexes of Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel.

The hosts, already without the services of Didier Drogba, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Essien, were missing Alex from their starting line-up and then saw midfielder Cole limp off.

Anelka, struggling with muscle spasms before the match, was also taken off at the break meaning Franco di Santo was Scolari's frontline striker for 45 minutes.

It mattered little. Scolari had never met Martin O'Neill before and had spoken of his admiration for the teams the Villa boss has produced - but this crop simply had no chance as Chelsea gave them a first-half masterclass in passing and movement.

Villa had been billed as the team to put pressure on Chelsea's unbeaten home league record, with the pace of Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young enough to trouble most sides.

As it was, Branislav Ivanovic went untroubled on his league debut as most of the action was ahead of him.

John Terry, partnering the Serbian in central defence, said before the match that he wanted to play even if it was on one leg - and he probably could have done that in the first half, such was Chelsea's dominance.

Friedel's busy afternoon in goal for Villa started with two early saves.

The first effort was from Michael Ballack, who fizzed a drive from 25 yards, then Florent Malouda had a go from the left flank at a similar distance.

Frank Lampard had the first clear opening of the game, in the 18th minute, when Anelka found him with a cross, only for the England midfielder to head wide.

Lampard, however, set up the opener three minutes later after Curtis Davies' clearance fell to Malouda. Malouda slipped the ball inside to Lampard, who in turn helped it on to midfielder Cole.

Cole took one touch and lashed his finish past Friedel and inside the near post, his third of the season.

Anelka could have doubled the lead when he cracked a drive from 30 yards but his effort smashed against the crossbar - starting the onslaught on Friedel's goal.

The American goalkeeper parried a Lampard free-kick and also denied Malouda with another skidding drive.

He also made a double save in the 43rd minute, but could not prevent Anelka tapping in the rebound. Ashley Cole had crossed from the left, Ballack's drive and Anelka's follow up were saved - but the Frenchman made sure with his next effort.

It was Anelka's last contribution as he was taken off at the break for Di Santo, while Villa took off Davies and Luke Young, with James Milner and Carlos Cuellar coming on.

Stiliyan Petrov did have an effort saved by Petr Cech - but then there was more attacking from Chelsea.

Worryingly for England boss Fabio Capello, who was watching from the stands, was the sight of Terry dropping his shorts for treatment on his back.

Then midfielder Cole picked up his apparent foot injury and hobbled down the tunnel, with Salomon Kalou taking his place.

Wastefulness from Ballack at close range, then a brave block from Friedel to deny Kalou, kept the score down. Kalou also had an overhead striker disallowed for offside - and another goal would not have flattered the hosts.