Chelsea held by Villa

A superb display by goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen preserved Aston Villa's unbeaten start to the season at Chelsea.

The Danish international pulled off a string of superb saves to earn Villa a hard-fought 1-1 draw against the Barclays Premiership champions.

Chelsea, who opened the scoring through Didier Drogba before Gabriel Agbonlahor equalised, dominated the contest, but a combination of poor finishing and Sorensen's superlative performance left Jose Mourinho's side frustrated.

Villa boss Martin O'Neill's belief that his side could preserve their unbeaten start at Stamford Bridge had been shaken after just three minutes when Drogba struck.

Arjen Robben's free-kick caused all kinds of confusion in the Villa defence before the ball dropped at Drogba's feet with the goal at his mercy. Olof Mellberg challenged and the Ivory Coast striker, scorer of a hat-trick against Levski Sofia in the Champions League in midweek, forced the ball home.

Three minutes later Frank Lampard brought a superb save from Sorensen with a 25-yard drive, but Chelsea were denied a corner by referee Graham Poll.

Villa demonstrated they had the capacity to hurt the champions when Stiliyan Petrov forced Petr Cech to punch the ball for a corner with a stinging 20-yard drive in the 15th minute.

But four minutes later Villa had Sorensen to thank for preventing Chelsea from adding to their lead.

Robben concluded a mazy run on the left flank by pulling the ball back for Lampard to force the Danish goalkeeper into another fine save with a thumping left-footed drive.

In the 27th minute the busy Sorensen had to be at his most alert to deal with a header from Michael Essien after the Chelsea midfielder had climbed highest to meet another corner from Lampard.

Chelsea continued to dominate proceedings and Drogba was unfortunate not to get more power on his shot when Geremi's cross fell to him on the edge of the six-yard box in the 38th minute.

A minute later Villa replaced Luke Moore with Milan Baros after the former appeared to hurt his shoulder in a clash with Lampard.

In the 41st minute referee Poll lectured O'Neill on the touchline after the Villa manager complained about a free-kick decision given in Chelsea's favour.

Two minutes later Agbonlahor took advantage of a wayward pass from Ricardo Carvalho to run at the Chelsea defence and win a corner.

It brought them an equaliser when Drogba's initial headed clearance was sent back into the danger area by Steven Davis.

His cross found the unmarked Liam Ridgewell at the far post and when he headed the ball back into the six-yard box, Agbonlahor sent a glancing effort beyond the unprotected Cech for the leveller.

In the 49th minute Gareth Barry cleared a header from John Terry away from the danger zone after the England captain won the ball from a Lampard free-kick.

Chelsea should have taken the lead for the second time two minutes later when Geremi's clever pass gave Drogba a clear chance, but the striker completely missed his kick with just Sorensen to beat.

It was the turn of Lampard to miss his chance in the 59th minute when he miscued his shot on the edge of the area after Essien had picked him out with a clever pass.

Seconds later Sorensen saved Villa yet again when Shevchenko put Essien clear inside the penalty area, but the Dane dived low to his right to deny the Ghanaian international.

Chelsea were beginning to find gaps in Villa's defence with every attack, but they were prevented from restoring their lead due to some poor finishing and Sorensen's agility.

In the 67th minute Mourinho opted to give his side more attacking options and replaced Robben with Shaun Wright-Phillips and Geremi with Salomon Kalou.

The changes inspired Chelsea to drive forward once more and Wright-Phillips smashed the ball against the underside of the crossbar in the 69th minute.

In the 72nd minute Lampard should have scored, but he sent his header wide of the target after Wright-Phillips had found him on the edge of the six-yard box.

Moments later Sorensen was at it again when he flung himself into the air to prevent Shevchenko's 20-yard drive from finding the top corner as Villa held on to maintain their unbeaten start.