Ten-man Aston Villa came back from a goal down twice to salvage a point from a match they had dominated for stretches of the first half but which appeared all but lost in the second. Gareth Barry converted a penalty in stoppage time for Villa. Minutes earlier, a Michael Ballack free kick had put Blues in the driver's seat.

It was a highly entertaining, back-and-forth affair at the Bridge. Villa were forced to play the entire second half with 10 men after Zat Knight was sent off on the stroke of half time. Ballack made a triumphant  return, entering the game as a first-half replacement for Frank Lampard. He made a noticeable contribution to his side and it might be argued they would have lost without him. Andriy Shevchenko also played a blinder for Blues, contributing a brace and making a third.

The first minutes of the game were all Villa's and Shaun Maloney's goal in the 14th minute was justly deserved. In fact, Villa were downright dominant in the first 20 minutes and their hosts didn't appear to know how to handle the pressure from Martin O'Neill's side out of the gate. The pace of Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor caused repeated problems for Chelsea's defence.

‘Gareth Barry was the coolest man at the Bridge as he stepped up to score from the spot and give Villa a deserved point.’

On 25 minutes, Lampard was forced to go off with a thigh injury. Avram Grant brought Ballack for the German's first Premier League appearance of the season and he set up Chelsea's first real chance of the game, but Joe Cole shot right at Scott Carson from close range.

Keeper Petr Cech gifted Villa a second goal just when the Londoners appeared to be hitting their stride. Maloney put in a speculative long ball that should not have presented a problem for Cech, but he was unable to handle it cleanly and the ball trickled over the line and into the Chelsea goal.

The game changed dramatically on the stroke of half time when Knight brought down Ballack in the box. Knight was sent off with a straight red card and Shevchenko converted the penalty with cool efficiency. The Ukrainian equalised on 50 minutes when his strike from 25 yards gave the Villa keeper no chance. Shevchenko set up Chelsea's next goal as well, linking up well for Alex to put Chelsea ahead. Villa didn't quit, however, and Martin Laursen notched a dramatic equaliser on 72 minutes to make it 3-3.