September 03, 2007	Monday	Sha'aban 20, 1428

LONDON, Sept 2: Chelsea missed a chance to return to the top of the Premier League on Sunday when they crashed to their first defeat of the season, going down 2-0 at Aston Villa.

Missing England midfielder Frank Lampard, who suffered a thigh strain in training on Friday, Chelsea struggled for any attacking rhythm and were beaten by second half goals from debutant central defender Zat Knight and striker Gabriel Agbonlahor.

It was Chelsea’s first defeat in 19 league outings and extended their bad run at ‘bogey’ ground Villa Park to nine matches without a win. The Birmingham stadium also remains the only one in the Premier League where Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has not tasted victory.

Arsenal had earlier beaten Portsmouth 3-1 despite being reduced to 10 men in the second half.

Results:

Played on Sunday:

Arsenal 3 Portsmouth 1

Aston Villa 2 Chelsea 0

Blackburn Rovers 1 Manchester City 0

Played on Saturday:

Bolton Wanderers 1 Everton 2

Fulham 3 Tottenham Hotspur 3

Liverpool 6 Derby County 0

Manchester United 1 Sunderland 0

Middlesbrough 2 Birmingham City 0

Newcastle United 1 Wigan Athletic 0

Reading 0 West Ham United 3

—Reuters