Daniel Sturridge has given Chelsea a 1-0 lead over Aston Villa after 45 minutes of football at Villa Park.
It was the Blues who started the stronger and Fernando Torres so nearly opened the scoring after six minutes with an effort inside the box, but Shay Given pushed the ball to safety.
Chelsea did take the lead minutes later, however, when Sturridge tapped home from close range after good work from Torres.
Villa might have levelled the match after 20 minutes with a header from James Collins, but he placed wide when he might have done better.
Torres remained a threat, however, and might have grabbed a goal after 24 minutes, but he fired wide from close range before Juan Mata rattled the post.
Villa searched for the equaliser in the latter stages of the half, but struggled to carve out any real opportunites against a strong Chelsea outfit.
Petr Cech was called into action late in the half, to deny Gabriel Agbonlahor a chance for the home side.
Matt Law
