Aston Villa 4-4 Chelsea: Eight goals, two penalties and three sent off in 2007 Boxing Day bonanza
The day Aston Villa went berserk at the Bridge.
Eight goals, three red cards, two penalties and plenty more talking points captured the imagination in a simply crazy 4-4 draw on Boxing Day 2007 between Martin O’Neill’s side and Chelsea.
In a season that saw the Blues draw 4-4 with Tottenham and Spurs draw 4-4 with Villa, the third game in the set did not disappoint and will go down as one of the most thrilling matches in the Premier League’s history.
It was a remarkable match that saw Chelsea come from two goals behind to lead 3-2; Villa then equalise before Michael Ballack helped the Blues retake the lead (4-3) after 88 minutes. Villa stalwart Gareth Barry had the final say when converting a controversial injury-time penalty.
In between all the goal-mouth drama was some equally dramatic red rash action.
After Villa raced into an early two-goal lead thanks to a brace from Shaun Maloney, referee Phil Dowd adjudged that Villa defender Zat Knight had brought down Ballack in the penalty area on the stroke of half-time.
Dowd gave the Englishman his marching orders, and the penalty was subsequently converted.
O’Neill, speaking in a highly emotional post-match interview, suggested the German’s fall was rather theatrical, exclaiming: “There was no contact. He [Ballack] has gone over. I’m only three and a half per cent biased, but it was not a penalty.”
With the visitors down to ten men, Chelsea turned up the heat as Andrei Shevchenko scored quickly after the restart, before Alex da Costa scored a third to make it 3-2. Suddenly from two goals up after 40 minutes, Villa were staring down the barrel of a gun just ten minutes later.
Despite Chelsea’s dominance Martin Laursen claimed an unlikely equaliser to add another twist to the tail at 3-3 as the match entered its end game.
Ricardo Carvalho then produced a moment of madness as he was sent off for a two-footed lunge on Gabriel Agbonlahor, which was so bad that the former defender openly apologised for it after the game.
The door was once again left ajar for Villa to squeak through, but Ballack made it 4-3 from a highly disputed freekick after 88 minutes before Barry scored a dramatic late penalty as Ashley Cole handled the ball on his own goalline.
The idea of a match “having everything” is often exaggerated, but in this case, that description doesn’t do it justice. A purely manic Boxing Day fixture that will be remembered for decades to come.
In other Aston Villa news, the Under-21s blow away Blackburn Rovers in Premier League Cup riot at Bodymoor Heath.