By Ryan Ghee
February 14 2006

Luke Moore scored his second goal against Chelsea in as many games to earn Villa a share of the spoils in a lively encounter at Villa Park. Jose Mourinho's side took an early lead through Arjen Robben's strike but Villa refused to accept defeat and were rewarded when substitute Luke Moore scored in the final fifteen minutes to earn them an unlikely point.

It was O'Leary's men who made the brightest start to the match as Gareth Barry had the chance to open the scoring just minutes in.

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech flapped at a James Milner cross and as the ball dropped to the feet of Barry, the midfielder wasted the chance as he blasted the ball well over the Chelsea crossbar.

Just minutes later, the home side were punished for their missed opportunity as Dutch winger Arjen Robben got on the end of a Gallas delivery and fired the ball into the roof of the helpless Thomas Sorensen's net.

Villa continued to put pressure on the Premiership leaders despite conceding the early goal and Gavin McCann almost levelled matters as his dipping effort dropped inches wide of the goal.

Minutes later, the Villans were denied a stone-wall penalty by referee Rob Stlyes as John Terry's clear handball went unpunished by the official.

The hosts refused to be disheartened by the decision and twice came close before the break as Cech was forced to keep out a Phillips header whilst Barry fired narrowly wide.

The match continued in the same fashion after the break as Villa constantly pressurised their opponents whilst Chelsea were content to rely on counter-attacking football as they looked to extend their lead.

The Villans twice came close to finding the Chelsea net on the hour mark but the equalising goal was proving hard to come by.

Firstly, Gallas bravely blocked Phillips' drive before John Terry did the same to desperately deny Milan Baros from close range.

With fifteen minutes remaining, O'Leary decided to make a double change with Angel and Moore replacing Baros and Phillips in attack.

Within two minutes, the move proved to be an inspired one as Luke Moore scored his second goal against Chelsea this season and deservedly got Villa back on level terms.

Delaney raced down the right wing before picking out Moore in the middle, who bundled the ball home and sent Villa Park into raptures.

Following the equaliser, Villa decided to sit back and soak up the pressure and they were very nearly punished within minutes of the end.

Referee Rob Styles this time denied Chelsea a penalty as Samuel appeared to trip Robben in the box, only for the ref and his assistant to wave play on.

For the remaining seconds, Villa refused to give their visitors a sight of goal and thanks to an all-round solid display, O'Leary's troops deservedly earned themselves a largely unexpected point.