09/02/2002  Aston Villa 1 Chelsea 1
 
Frank Lampard spoilt Graham Taylor's return as Aston Villa 
manager by snatching a second-half equaliser for comeback 
kings Chelsea.

Skipper Paul Merson had looked to have given Taylor the 
perfect start in his quest for a European place with his third 
goal of the campaign.

But then former England Under-21 skipper Lampard popped up 
to rescue a point for the Blues.

Taylor had called for a more purposeful approach to try and 
improve Villa's goal tally and create extra chances for record 
signing Juan Pablo Angel.

But little was seen of the Colombia international who is 
reported to be unhappy and looking to quit the midlands club 
in the summer.

The few sparks up front were provided by Dariuds Vassell 
but the home side found Marcel Desailly and John Terry in 
impressive form at the heart of the Blues defence.

Gorge Boateng worked hard in midfield for Villa and there 
were a few flashes of skill from Merson.

But Chelsea have showed they should never be written off 
after stirring comebacks to win against Leicester and West Ham 
in the past week.

And only an uncharacteristic miss by Jimmy Floyd 
Hasselbaink in the closing minutes prevented Chelsea from 
completing a trio of victories.

Taylor received a tumultuous welcome from the 40,000 crowd 
as he made his way to the dug-out to begin his second spell at 
the helm 12 years after leaving to take charge of England.

The current England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson and Under-21 
boss David Platt were amongst the onlookers.

But it was Chelsea who were the first to seriously threaten 
when a cross from Graeme Le Saux picked out Hasselbaink at the 
near post only for the 24-goal front man to head wide.

Chelsea looked more purposeful in the early stages but the 
home side started to come more into the game and skipper 
Merson curled a 25-yard shot just off target.

Then after 28 minutes it was Merson who broke the deadlock 
with his third goal of the campaign.

Boateng, in the Holland squad to face England on Wednesday, 
sent in Vassell and he burst into the box only for his shot to 
ricochet off Desailly.

But the alert Merson was on hand to stick out his leg and 
divert the ball past Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini into 
the corner of the net.

Chelsea tried to retaliate and woeful control by Mario 
Stanic let him down after he had found himself in plenty of 
space inside the Villa penalty area.

At the other end Mustapha Hadji was only just too high with 
a cross-shot after being picked out by Merson.

Then Villa defender Olof Mellberg got in a vital block 
tackle to deny Eidur Gudjohnsen after he had delayed his shot 
whilst bursting into the penalty area.

It was Gudjohnsen who wasted Chelsea's best chance of the 
opening half when Desailly squared the ball back into the path 
and, from barely six yards out, he lofted his shot over the 
crossbar.

Villa sent on Gareth Barry at half-time for the injured 
Mellberg and he slotted in at left-back with Jlloyd Samuel 
moving into the centre alongside Steve Staunton.

The home side had a chance to double their lead when Terry 
brought down Vassell 25 yards out but Angel lofted the 
free-kick past the post.

Gudjohnsen went for glory after receiving the ball deep in 
the Villa half when the overlapping Sam Dalla Bona was in 
plenty of space and his shot trickled through to Peter 
Enckelman.

Claudio Ranieri made a double substitution, sending on 
Gianfranco Zola and Mikael Forssell and switching to a 3-5-2 
system - and within a minute the visitors were back on level 
terms.

Zola's delightful floated pass caught Villa napping and 
Hasselbaink nodded the ball down into the path of Frank 
Lampard who drilled a low shot past Enckelman.

Forssell was then only inches too high with a curling 
effort while at the other end a Merson volley was deflected 
over the bar.

Terry made an important block to deny the alert Vassell and 
Enckelman was fortunate that a deflected Hasselbaink free-kick 
flew straight into his arms.

Hasselbaink then raced clear of the Villa defence but 
screwed his shot past the far post while Enckelman made a fine 
block to keep out a last-ditch effort from Stanic.