Chelsea 1 Aston Villa 3

Stephen Ireland produced his best performance in a Villa shirt to date as he scored one goal and created another to give the claret and blues a shock win over Chelsea.

Alex McLeish had failed to register a win against any of the top six before this match but Villa's gameplan to hit Chelsea on the counter attack worked a treat at Stamford Bridge.

Ireland equalised Didier Drogba's opening goal from the penalty spot in the first half and although Villa rode their luck in the second half they clinched the points thanks to goals in the final 10 minutes from Stiliyan Petrov and Darren Bent.

Villa boss McLeish made one change from the side which played out a goalless draw with Stoke as Ireland was recalled to the starting line-up for Emile Heskey who was forced out with an Achilles injury.

Ireland was included despite being given a ticking off by McLeish after pictures of him smoking a shisha pipe and drinking over the Christmas period appeared on twitter while Bent was considered fit enough for a place on the bench.

Chelsea took the lead in the 23rd minute from the penalty spot when referee Mark Halsey allowed play to continue after an initial foul by James Collins on Ramires outside the box before Richard Dunne's clumsy sliding tackle felled Drogba inside it.

The Ivory Coast striker converted the resulting spot-kick with a low drive which was hit straight at Villa keeper Brad Guzan who somehow managed to dive over the ball.

Villa were back on level terms five minutes later though when Dunne's cross-field pass found Ireland who in turn released Charles N'Zogbia down the left flank.

A deft drop of the shoulder took the French winger past Paulo Ferreira and his dangerous run along the byline culminated in pass to Ireland who saw his initial shot from close range blocked by John Terry's hand but the Irishman reacted quickest to stab the rebound past Petr Cech.

Guzan dived full length to parry a Drogba shot in the 34th minute with Juan Mata unable to capitalise on the rebound as Stephen Warnock blocked his attempt.

Agbonlahor had a golden opportunity after half-time when he found himself in a one-on-one situation with Cech as Villa hit with a swift counter-attack involving N'Zogbia and Marc Albrighton.

Cech came off his line to narrow the angle and Agbonlahor's shot from the edge of the penalty area was saved by the Chelsea keeper who dived to his left to get a hand on the ball.

Mata almost unlocked the Villa defence with some mesmerising wing play down the left flank on the hour mark but Warnock showed great strength to outmuscle Daniel Sturridge and head clear.

Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas introduced Fernando Torres two minutes later and the striker almost scored with his first touch as he rattled the crossbar with a stunning 30-yard shot.

It was all the home side from this point forward and Guzan was called into action in the 75th minute as he tipped a spectacular long-range attempt from Jose Bosingwa on to the bar.

McLeish threw on Bent and youngster Gary Gardner with 12 minutes remaining to freshen up a tiring attack and the former's introduction had an immediate impact in helping Villa steal the points.

Bent appeared to be fouled inside the penalty by Ashley Cole as the Chelsea defence were caught ball watching and Petrov, who himself had a penalty shout turned down, was on hand to curl a low finish past Cech from just inside the area in the 83rd minute.

And travelling Villa's supporters were in dreamland three minutes later when yet another counter attack saw the visitors swarm into the Chelsea half and Ireland unselfishly teed up Bent who calmly dispatched the ball past Cech.