Chelsea succumbed to a second away league defeat in succession on a frustrating afternoon at Villa Park.

A combination of sloppy finishing, poor defending and bad luck contributed to a disappointing day at the office after Didier Drogba had opened the scoring 15 minutes in with a long-range effort.

Aston Villa drew level with a Richard Dunne header before James Collins nodded home the winner five minutes into the second half, the first time in two years we have lost successive league games away from Stamford Bridge.

After a delayed start, reportedly due to scheduled referee Steve Bennett falling ill, it was Chelsea who kicked off on a chilly Midlands lunchtime, yet it was Aston Villa who had the first sights of goal 10 minutes in.

A break from Stiliyan Petrov released the ball over the top of the visiting defence for the pacey Gabriel Agbonlahor, who was locked in a tussle with Jose Bosingwa. The Portuguese came out on top, doing enough to prevent the shot, and despite half-hearted penalty claims from the Villa support, stand-in ref Kevin Friend waved play on.

At the other end Nicolas Anelka squared for Florent Malouda, but the Frenchman was tackled by James Milner before he could get his shot away.

As has become almost customary in recent weeks, it was a sluggish looking start from Chelsea, but on exactly 15 minutes, we took the lead.

Drogba received the ball, back to goal, some 25 yards out, and given space to turn by his marker, did so, unleashing a speculative effort that bounced awkwardly in front of Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel, and up into the net.

It was without question more than we deserved at that stage, having been wasteful in possession and of little threat going forward, but Villa had been equally uninspiring, with only the industrious Milner and the tricky Ashley Young on the opposite flank suggesting they could cause our backline much trouble.

Half an hour had passed and Villa were still to test Petr Cech's shot-stopping, his only duties being to collect a number of floated crosses inside his area.

The next one that arrived he was powerless to stop though, as a Young corner was only flicked on in his own area by Frank Lampard, right into the path of the oncoming Dunne, who had the simple task of heading home from four yards, his second goal in consecutive Villa games.

Suddenly there was a game on. Deco came close to restoring the lead with a delicate chip, but Friedel redeemed his earlier error with some smart backpedaling and a tip around the post.

Then it was a last-ditch Collins tackle that prevented Drogba from claiming a second after the Blues had worked the ball across and into the home penalty area, before a Villa break at the other end had Cech nervously sprinting back towards his goal, only for ex-Chelsea man Steve Sidwell to dither in possession when well placed to either shoot or pass.

The last five minutes of the first half had all the action and excitement that the previous forty had lacked. Agbonlahor was beginning to gain some joy with his pace, earning Ashley Cole a yellow card in stoppage time.

Just before the whistle, Cech was forced to race from his line to clear a loose ball as Agbonlahor bore down, but all in all it had been a half unlikely to live too long in the memory.

The second period offered an early chance for Drogba to add to his tally, after being tripped eight yards outside the Villa box. He lined up the free-kick himself, but disappointed the travelling supporters to his right by shooting tamely into the defensive wall.

Two minutes later Villa had another corner from the left, the side from which their first goal had come, and the outcome was the same.

Young swung over a deep cross, Cech came and missed, and Collins was left unmarked to head into an empty net. It was undoubtedly more than Villa deserved, but there could be no complaints after some elementary errors.

The Chelsea reaction was swift and strong, Lampard first shot narrowly wide before Michael Essien shot straight at Friedel from distance, and then Deco forced a harder save from the American after Drogba threaded him through, before Malouda's shot was beaten away with the fists.

After that spell, the pressure died off a little. Bosingwa limped off, replaced by Branislav Ivanovic, and Dunne had a chance to seal victory with another free header after escaping Ricardo Carvalho's attentions, but this time headed well wide.

Young sent in another deep cross to Milner at the far post, and the England man squared for John Carew six yards out, but the Norwegian was unable to finish, and Chelsea's chances of a result remained.

Anelka should have slotted home an equaliser with just over 15 minutes remaining after exchanging passes with Malouda, but again Friedel's large frame was in the way.

Into the final 10 minutes it was Chelsea back on top, Lampard again working Friedel low down and Essien having a long-range daisy cutter blocked.

Carlo Ancelotti finally opted to make a tactical switch, presenting Joe Cole with a Premier League return six minutes before the end, replacing Malouda in midfield and moving to the top of the diamond.

Vila were well organised though, and their back four, aided by the tireless Sidwell and Petrov in front of them, dealt easily with what the reshaped Chelsea could throw at them.

Three minutes of stoppage time failed to yield any further chances, and when Essien's free-kick was flicked out of play, the game was up. It had been a very disappointing day in the west Midlands.

Aston Villa (4-4-2): Friedel; Cuellar, Collins, Dunne, Warnock; Milner, Sidwell, Petrov (c), Young; Carew (Heskey 81), Agbonlahor.

Scorers Dunne 31, Collins 51
Booked Agbonlahor 34, Milner 90+2

Chelsea (4-diamond-2): Cech; Bosingwa (Ivanovic 68), Carvalho, Terry (c), A Cole; Essien; Lampard, Malouda (J Cole 84); Deco; Anelka, Drogba.
Scorers Drogba 15
Booked A Cole 45

You can watch the full 90 minutes of the game on Chelsea TV from 6pm on Sunday.