Another impressive win for the Blues under the stewardship of Roberto Di Matteo which keeps our hopes of a top-four finish alive. After taking a 2-0 lead courtesy of goals from Daniel Sturridge and Branislav Ivanovic, Aston Villa looked to have stolen a point when both James Collins and Eric Lichaj scored in quick succession midway through the second half.

We weren't to be denied, however, and soon after Branislav Ivanovic restored our lead with his second of the game, before a wonderful Fernando Torres in stoppage time capped an impressive victory and our first away win in the league since the 2-1 win at Wolves in January.

Our focus now turns to the return leg of our Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday when we will look to secure a semi-final against either AC Milan or Barcelona.

- First half

Roberto Di Matteo made three changes to the side which started against Benfica in midweek. Branislav Ivanovic returned from a thigh injury to replace Paulo Ferreira at right-back, while in midfield Frank Lampard, who was a second half substitute in Portugal, replaced the injured Raul Meireles. With Didier Drogba missing through injury, Fernando Torres retained his place as the lone striker, supported by Salamon Kalou, Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge, who replaced Ramires.

Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish named a relatively inexperienced side, more through necessity than choice. Captain Stiliyan Petrov was absent after being diagnosed with acute leukaemia yesterday, while Carlos Cuellar, Richard Dunne and long-term absentee Darren Bent all missed out. Gabriel Agbonlahor skippered the side.

The Blues went into the game having won only once in our previous 13 visits to Villa Park, but we were almost in front inside the opening six minutes when Torres raced on to a superb, piercing ball from David Luiz, exposing the two centre-backs, but the Spaniard could only fire straight at the feet of Shay Given.

We didn't have to wait long, however, as two minutes later the deadlock was broken. Ashley Cole's cross to Torres fell into the path of Mata, and as he played it back into the striker's path, Stephen Warnock made a crucial block, only for Sturridge to fire home from close range for his 10th league goal of the season.

Agbonlahor looked to have spurned a glorious opportunity to equalise for the home side shortly after, but the Villa skipper had failed to spot a raised flag by the linesman signalling for offside.

John Mikel Obi was unfortunate to see an uncharactersistic strike from distance take a deflection into the arms of a grateful Shay Given, while at the other end, James Collins headed over from Barry Bannan's corner.

A delightful move involving Mata, Kalou and Torres almost saw us double our advantage, but as the two Spaniard's exchanged passes, Mata intelligently lifted the ball over the advancing Given only to see it bounce back off the post.

As a spectacle, it was proving to be an entertaining encounter, with both teams playing some neat football, but while the hosts had enjoyed plenty of possession in the opening half-hour, Petr Cech was yet to be severely tested.

Sturridge, looking for his second of the game, fizzed a low drive which Given saved comfortably down to his left shortly before the break, but as the half drew to a close there were very few chances of any note at either end.

Villa came close to levelling in the 42nd minute when Cech made a fantastic save with his feet from Agbonlahor, diverting the ball over the bar after Sturridge had lost possession deep in our half. The home side were certainly looking the more dangerous in the closing stages, as Di Matteo was forced into the first substitution of the afternoon, replacing David Luiz, who hobbled off with an ankle injury, with former Villa defender Gary Cahill.

- Second half

Both managers opted against making any changes at the break, and after withstanding some early Villa pressure, the Blues made it 2-0 five minutes into the half.

Torres and Cole combined well down the left-hand side to force a corner, and from Mata's resulting delivery the home side failed to clear, allowing the unmarked Branislav Ivanovic to stab his effort past Given into the roof of the net for his third goal of the season.

Warnock became the first player of the afternoon to be booked for a late tackle on Chelsea captain John Terry, while for the Blues, Kalou was replaced by Ramires just before the hour, a switch which saw the Brazilian deployed wide on the right with Sturridge moving to the left.

A young Villa side, to their credit, refused to cave in, but the second goal appeared to settle the Blues as we defended comfortably and looked to put the game out of reach on the counter attack.

Torres was unlucky as he headed over from Ivanovic's cross, while Di Matteo made our third and final substitution of the game, evidently with one eye on Wednesday's Champions League clash against Benfica, introducing Florent Malouda at the expense of the impressive Mata.

Two minutes later and the home side were thrown a lifeline when some sloppy Blues defending allowed Collins to head home from Eric Lichj's long throw-in, galvanising the home crowd and setting up a tense finish.

A minute later, though, Villa were level. The substitute Marc Albrighton crossed deep to the back post and Lichaj, creator of Villa's first, prodded home from close range to send the home fans delirious.

Incredibly, almost straight from the restart we restored our lead. Malouda's corner was helped on by Torres at the near-post, and the ball cannoned off Ivanovic, who was standing in exactly the same place from where he'd scored earlier, and flew past Given to the delight of the travelling hordes over on the far side.

As Villa poured forward in search of another equaliser, Cech saved comfortably from a Bannan free-kick, but the game was put beyond doubt when Sturridge broke quickly before teeing up the supporting Torres who fired a powerful drive past the despairing dive of Given to make it 4-2.

- Match stats:

Aston Villa (4-4-2): Given; Lichaj, Collins, Baker, Warnock; Bannan, Gardner, Herd (Albrighton 70), Ireland; Agbonlahor (c), Weimann (Heskey 81).
Unused substitutes: Guzan, Johnson, Williams, Carruthers, Grealish
Scorers: Collins, Lichaj
Booked: Warnock 57

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic; David Luiz (Cahill 44), Terry (c), Cole; Mikel Obi, Lampard; Sturridge, Mata (Malouda 73), Kalou (Ramires 58); Torres.
Unused substitutes: Turnbull, Bosingwa, Bertrand, Essien
Scorers: Sturridge, Ivanovic 2, Torres.
Referee: Lee Mason
Crowd: 34,740