London, Jan 1 (IANS) Chelsea lost further ground to English Premier League table toppers Manchester City as they slumped to their third home defeat, losing 1-3 to Aston Villa.
The Blues yet again looked laboured in their play, hardly creating clear cut chances. Manager Andre Villas Boas decided to bench club legend Frank Lampard and out of form Spaniard Fernando Torres.
Chelsea opened the scoring with Ivorian forward Didier Drogba scoring his 150th goal for the club. Veteran defender Richard Dunne took out Drogba in the box who then put away the penalty in the 23rd minute.
Stephen Ireland equalised for Villa just five minutes later, scoring his first goal in more than two years. It was looking like Chelsea were heading for another draw when Stiliyan Petrov gave the visitors the lead in the 83rd minute. Darren Bent came off the bench to score the third goal three minutes later, much to the dismay of the home fans who jeered their team off the pitch.
Elsewhere, Manchester United missed the opportunity to go top of the table as they were defeated at home 2-3 by Blackburn Rovers.
Arsenal leapfrogged Chelsea to go fourth in the table with a 1-0 win over London rivals Queens Park Rangers.
