Chelsea maintained the pressure on leaders Arsenal with a deserved victory over Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.

Eidur Gudjohnsen fired Chelsea into a first-half lead after the hosts had survived a good period of Villa pressure.

And Frank Lampard made sure of all three points with a bizarre second after the interval that left Villa goalkeeper Peter Enckelman facing another appearance on Auntie's Bloomers.

We played 4-2-4, like Brazil in the 1960s - but without their players! Claudio Ranieri

The win moves Claudio Ranieri's men into second place, with Manchester United playing Blackburn on Sunday, and reaffirms Chelsea's status as real challengers for the Premiership crown.

Key incidents

1 min: Mellberg strikes the Chelsea crossbar 30 mins: Enckelman saves well to deny Hasselbaink 42 mins: Gudjohnsen puts Chelsea ahead 57 mins: Lampard doubles Chelsea's lead

Gianfranco Zola was dropped from the Chelsea starting line-up for the first time in three months.

The Italian striker was at fault for the goal that sent his side crashing out of the Worthington Cup against Manchester United on Tuesday.

Zola's absence gave Gudjohnsen the chance to rekindle his once prolific partnership with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

That it took 42 minutes for Hasselbaink to set up the Icelandic forward for Chelsea's opener said much about Villa's first-half display.

Graham Taylor's men had matched their London hosts in the early exchanges and Villa's adventurous, attacking approach almost brought them a goal from the outset.

First Lee Hendrie's goal-bound shot was deflected away by Graeme Le Saux and then Olof Mellberg struck the crossbar from the resulting corner with only a minute gone.

I thought that for the first 30 minutes today it was hard to see who was in the top three and who wasn't Graham Taylor

Mustapha Hadji, impressive against Liverpool, continued his improved form and caused Chelsea problems on the left.

The Moroccan also went close to giving Villa the lead, but he dragged his shot across the face of Carlo Cudicini's goal

However, Gudjohnsen was unerringly accurate with his finish from a similar position and punished Villa for not capitalising on their early dominance.

Little and large: Morris outjumps Dublin

If Villa were unlucky to be behind at the break, they could have no complaints about conceding soon after the interval.

Gudjohnsen was denied a second goal by a brilliant piece of agility from Enckelman, who somehow managed to deflect away the Chelsea striker's effort with his body.

But the Villa goalkeeper was distracted by Gudjohnsen moments later.

Enckelman was guilty of watching the player rather than the ball as Lampard's cross from the left evaded everyone and finished in the back of the net to end the game as a contest.

Chelsea: Cudicini, Melchiot, Gallas, Terry, Le Saux, Zenden (Babayaro 67), Morris, Lampard, Stanic (Gronkjaer 55), Hasselbaink (Zola 77), Gudjohnsen.
Subs Not Used: de Goey, Ferrer.

Aston Villa: Enckelman, Samuel, Barry, Mellberg, Staunton, Leonhardsen (Angel 61), Hitzlsperger, Hendrie, Hadji, Dublin (Kinsella 61), Vassell (Allback 62).
Subs Not Used: Postma, De la Cruz.

Booked: Staunton, Dublin, Hendrie.

Attendance: 38,284

Referee: M Riley (W Yorkshire).