#2 Aston Villa vs Chelsea – 2007
Eight goals. Three red cards. How about that for some Christmas cheer? Aston Villa did that when they went to Stamford Bridge on Boxing Day in 2007. Villa had taken a 2-0 lead but Villa defender Zat Knight was sent off late in the first half. Chelsea scored three goals through a brace from Andriy Shevchenko and a goal from Alex before Martin Laursen levelled proceedings.
Ricardo Carvalho was sent off with the scores level, giving the Villans hope. Michael Ballack’s 87th-minute free-kick appeared to have won it for Chelsea. But in a game that went the way this one did, you could not be sure of anything until the final whistle was blown.
And so it proved, as Ashley Cole handled the ball on the line and became the third player to be sent off on the day. Gareth Barry dispatched the penalty as there was more heartache for Chelsea in a season when they eventually broke their Champions League semi-final hoodoo, only to lose to Manchester United in the final in Moscow.
