Chelsea 2 : Aston Villa 0

Nic nets: Anelka puts away Chelsea's second

Billboards boldly claimed it was The Brazilian against The Great Briton. First v Fourth. The Unbeatables against the New Beginning. In the end, it was Men against Boys.


Chelsea's League of Nations, pulled together from seven different countries, played with ingenuity and inspiration against Aston Villa by binding together into one tight, title-winning unit.


It was electrifying. It could have been five by half-time and 10 by the final whistle. In the end, Luiz Felipe Scolari's irrepressible side settled for two.

More like too easy. Martin O'Neill's team are a red herring in this title race, an also-ran after just seven games. 'Chelsea were brilliant,' conceded the Villa manager.


'That's probably the best they've played this season, but I really thought we would beat them. It shows how daft I am.'


Deluded more like. Try to stop this Chelsea team, just try. Liverpool will fancy their chances, especially after Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt stirred into action at Eastlands, but Chelsea are flying.

Rafa Benitez can bring them back down to earth in two weeks when his Liverpool visit Stamford Bridge hoping to become the first team since Arsenal, as distant as February 2004, to beat them on their own ground in the Barclays Premier League.

Good luck. Pick a player, any player, from this Chelsea team. John Terry? Colossus. Joe Cole? Captivating. Frank Lampard? Imperious.

'Lampard was outstanding, ' admitted O'Neill. 'He was very, very good,' added Scolari.


The best player on the pitch is playing the best football of his career. Three Englishmen, head and shoulders above any of their seven countrymen representing Villa, ran this show.


Joe Cole scored the opening goal, a strike that Stamford Bridge had to wait all of 21 minutes for, latching on to Lampard's pass and burying his effort beyond Brad Friedel.


Pity the Aston Villa keeper, the one-man human blockade who prevented Chelsea threatening to eclipse their record league victory, a 9-2 annihilation of Glossop in 1906. Seriously, it would have been close.


O'Neill will be alarmed, surprised just how easily his defence - if you can call it that - buckled under the relentless pressure.


Chelsea have added another threat to their football this season, releasing Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa down the wings at every opportunity and giving them licence to drop their bombs.


Villa had no answer, dragging off Luke Young (abysmal) and Curtis Davies (ditto) at the break.

It may be some time before O'Neill has the confidence to play them in the same team again. 'I'm very satisfied,' declared Scolari. 'For me, this was the most important game of the season because it means we go into the international break first in the Premier League, first in the group in the Champions League and in the next round of the Carling Cup.


'It also means our players will have an extra 10 days to recover before we next play, at Middlesbrough.'

Just look at what this team have in reserve: Ricardo Carvalho, Deco and Didier Drogba are all recovering from medium-term injuries.


Chelsea mesmerised 41,593 spectators (five more if you include their own defence) with a heady brew of fabulous football.


They scored their second just before the break when Anelka, substituted at half-time with a leg injury, followed up Michael Ballack's close-range shot. Anelka is quietly but regularly knocking in goals in the Premier League (four so far) and reminding the doubters that he is a world-class talent.


They are liberally sprinkled throughout this side, the partnerships all over the pitch that can tear teams apart: Ballack and Lampard, Ashley Cole and Florent Malouda, Bosingwa and Joe Cole.


Heavy artillery is everywhere. 'Scolari has inherited a great team, but he has also put his own stamp on them and that is remarkable,' added O'Neill.

'You have to remember what he has achieved in the game. He won a World Cup with Brazil, where the expectations are always high. Scolari is a brilliant manager, right at the very top.


'This was a harsh lesson, but there is no point in us playing if we're not going to aspire to be at Chelsea's level. We caught them at a bad time.' No kidding. This was Chelsea at their very best.