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Aston Villa condemned Chelsea to a 2-1 Premier League defeat at Villa Park thanks to headers from defenders Richard Dunne and James Collins.

The centre-backs took advantage of some slack marking to turn the game around after Didier Drogba had put the visitors in front.

Goalkeeper Brad Friedel was at fault for Drogba's goal, but redeemed himself with a succession of smart saves as Chelsea toiled in vain for an equaliser.

Villa have added Carlo Ancelotti's side to the scalp of Liverpool they picked up at Anfield earlier this season, and strengthened their case as genuine top four contenders.

The kick-off was delayed by a perplexing muddle over the match officials. Referee Steve Bennett is suffering from flu and decided after his warm-up he could not take charge of the game.

There then followed a 10-minute hiatus during which a desperate search was conducted for a replacement fourth official. Yet if Bennett was unwell, there should surely have been a standby.

It is not clear why Bennett's illness was apparently not known until after the warm-up, but the recent storm over referees' fitness cannot have encouraged the Kent official to perform while less than 100 per cent.

Stand-in referee Kevin Friend had a big early decision to make when Jose Bosingwa appeared to tug Gabriel Agbonlahor over in the Chelsea box - Friend chose not to award a penalty, but the theme of a tormented Bosingwa struggling to contain Villa was a constant feature.

Agbonlahor, Ashley Young and Stiliyan Petrov all gave the Portuguese real problems, and it would be no surprise to see the sturdier Branislav Ivanovic replace him for Wednesday's Champions League game against Atletico Madrid, even if Bosingwa recovers from an injury that forced him off in the second half.

Drogba has been utterly irrepressible this season, and he hardly needed assistance from the normally reliable Friedel to open the scoring.

However, that is exactly what he got, when the American misjudged the striker's dipping long shot and allowed it to bounce over his dive and into the net.

Martin O'Neill made headlines last month when he was reported to have wrestled with his player Nigel Reo-Coker in training.

The substitute midfielder had the best seat in the house to watch his manager grappling with another player midway through the first half; Nicolas Anelka hurtled out of play and inadvertently collided with O'Neill, knocking him clean off his feet and giving him a cut elbow.

Just after the half-hour mark, Villa had the equaliser their enterprising play merited.

A probing Petrov run earned a corner, which Young whipped in from the left. Frank Lampard inadvertently flicked the ball on and Dunne powered a diving header into the corner from six yards.

Chelsea continued to have their chances. Deco nearly beat Friedel with an outrageous chip, while the American saved point blank from Drogba.

But it was Villa who took their chances, and went in front seven minutes into the second half.

Young's corner found Collins completely unmarked at the edge of the six-yard box, and the Welshman powered in a header.

John Terry's furious reaction was understandable - for Collins to be left open was an act of supreme negligence on Drogba's part.

Had Liverpool defended like that, the debate over the failings of zonal marking would have lasted for weeks - but the goal showed a man-to-man system can be equally useless if people do not do their job.

Chelsea poured forward and their slick passing carved out several chances to level. Deco shot straight at Friedel when played clean through, before Florent Malouda did the same from the edge of the box, and Anelka also prodded tamely at the goalkeeper when he looked odds-on to score.

More poor Chelsea marking gave Dunne another headed chance that he flashed wide, while John Carew prodded over from close range after outstanding build-up play from Young and James Milner.

Alex Chick / Eurosport