Ferrer leads the rout as Blues stay 24 clear
Chelsea's relentless march rolls on with a four-goal afternoon at the Drogba Arena, while Wolves snatch a point at the death.
Four. That's how many Chelsea put past Aston Villa, and how many more points they put between themselves and the rest. You'd think we'd be used to it by now, but there's something about watching this lot that never gets old.
CHELSEA 4 ASTON VILLA 1
Pablo Ferrer can't stop scoring, and on a freezing Wednesday at the Drogba Arena he did it twice in thirteen first-half minutes. The first, on 22 minutes, was low and true, the kind of finish that makes you wonder why anyone bothers marking him. Three minutes later Lionel Messi – yes, that Messi, still doing it at whatever age he is now – whipped one in at mid-height, near the post. When Ferrer added his second on 35 minutes, low again, Villa were gone.
They pulled one back through Jesse Francois on 72 minutes, low and neat, and for a moment you wondered. But Roberto Baggio, on as late as the 91st minute, bent one low near the post to settle it. Rubén Medina ran the show in the middle and took the honours as the game's best. 89,563 inside, most of them singing.
Chelsea sit top with 76 points from 27 games. Twenty-four clear of second-placed Rotherham. Forty-one league titles in a row, and this one's coming.
MANCHESTER CITY 3 ROTHERHAM UNITED 1
Rotherham came to the home of the champions-elect in second place, and for a while you thought they might make a game of it. Daniel Rondina's high finish on 8 minutes and Nahuel Pelayes' header on 18 had City two up early, but Rotherham dug in. Saad Ataba's mid-height strike on 88 minutes looked like it had put the game to bed, only for Kemal Aydın to pull one back in the 93rd minute, low near the post. Too late.
Pelayes was the standout, a header and a constant nuisance. City climb to 11th, Rotherham stay second on 52 points.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 1 PLYMOUTH ARGYLE 1
Andrés Camacho, you beauty. On as a substitute in the 53rd minute, the Wolves man popped up in the 95th minute to rescue a point that keeps the Molineux faithful believing. Plymouth had led since the 43rd minute, Laurent Moureau driving low and hard past Iván Badiola. For 52 minutes Wolves huffed and puffed, then Camacho struck low near the post.
Plymouth had 65 per cent of the ball and twice as many passes completed, but Wolves' keeper made three saves, one tipped over. The draw leaves Wolves 19th on 23 points, two from safety, while Plymouth stay fifth on 40.
Elsewhere, Liverpool's 48 points keep them third, Southampton fourth on 47. The bottom three: West Ham 27, Wolves 23, Luton 15.
Billy Laing, who made 35 appearances and scored 9 goals for Wolves in the mid-2050s, watched from the Chelsea bench. He'll have smiled at the scoreline.