There were more sour looks from the Chelsea bench last night as the Sky Blues were unable to score for the first time this season. The 0-0 draw against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Tuesday was Chelsea’s third tie in a row, keeping it six points behind league leader Manchester United. Coach Jose Mourinho was openly critical of his defense after the team conceded eight goals in its last four games, but last night’s 0-0 draw will do little to calm his nerves. Not only did Chelsea never really look like scoring (aside from Frank Lampard’s 89th minute miss from six yards) but Villa always looked the likelier-especially from set pieces. Several times the announcers pointed out how Villa players were unmarked or easily beating their defenders in the penalty area, making the absence of John Terry and Petr Cech all the more keenly felt. ESPN Soccernet columnist Norman Hubbard also points to the poor form of Ashley Cole, the former Arsenal defender Mourinho so mercilessly pursued for the last few seasons. Perhaps the absence of William Gallas-now with Arsenal-has contributed to the holes in Chelsea’s defense this year. As Hubbard says, “Yielding eight goals in four games would concern any team; for one that completed a season conceding only 15 as recently as 2005, it represents a catastrophic decline in defending.”