Chelsea made light work of Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon, defeating them 3-0 at Stamford Bridge to compile the visitors’ recent misery.
Nicolas Jackson continued his fine form to give the Blues the lead in the seventh minute before Enzo Fernández scored his second goal in as many games to double the advantage.
The first half was full of bizarre moments, from Pau Torres and Emiliano Martínez giving away an indirect free kick in the box, to the latter passing the ball straight to Jackson only four yards away from him, all the way to Pedro Neto taking a foul throw at Premier League level. One thing was consistent, though: Aston Villa could not contend with the hosts.
Cole Palmer would put the icing on the cake with a wonderful strike in the last ten minutes, leaving Villa winless in their last eight games.
As it happened
No wonder they’re winless in seven. After an abysmal run in all competitions, a trip to Stamford Bridge was not what Unai Emery’s Aston Villa needed. Chelsea, playing perhaps their best football since winning the Premier League in 2017, couldn’t have had an easier time against a frankly bizarre Villa display.
It didn’t take them long to take the lead, with Marc Cucurella smashing (legally, mind) into Jaden Philogene to win back possession before darting into the box and firing a low cross into the middle. Jackson, sandwiched between three Villa defenders, made it look easy, hitting a first-time shot off the post and into the back of the net for 1-0.
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He’s a man reborn this season, this latest goal his eighth of the Premier League season; only Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah and Chris Wood have scored more. He might’ve had more before the end of the half, too.
But before those chances, the visitors broke into the box for the first – and only – time in the first half. This time, Chelsea caused their own problems, Ollie Watkins nicking the ball off Wesley Fofana in the box and bearing down on goal. With only Robert Sánchez between him and an equaliser, he fluffed his lines; the Spaniard spread, and the striker’s shot was comfortably saved.
From then on out, it was all Chelsea. In the 23rd minute, something truly unusual happened: a back pass. Torres was the passer, but it was just a tap really. He should have had enough time to put his foot through the ball, but that’s not what happened; instead, Martínez ushered him away and picked up the ball, giving Stuart Atwell no choice but to blow his whistle.
It can’t be something teams spend much time practicing in training, so Aston Villa put nine men on the line along with their goalkeeper. Fernández laid it off for Palmer to strike, and Martínez made up for his error with the save to deny a most abnormal goal.
Indirect-free-kick-gate wouldn’t be the Argentine’s only error of the half though. Only five minutes after denying Palmer, he passed the ball straight to Jackson who was standing mere yards away from him. It perhaps took him by surprise; his touch wasn’t as sharp as he might’ve liked. Martínez got down quickly and had to work very hard to claw the ball away from the striker’s feet, but eventually the danger was cleared.
But in the melee, he picked up a knock. He’d continue until the end of the half, but Robin Olsen was already preparing to take his place.
When Chelsea did make it two in the 36th minute, they didn’t have to rely on a mistake: it was just brilliant, incisive passing play. The man to play the killer ball was Palmer, slotting it to Fernández between two defenders. Once on the ball, his first touch bobbled a tad, but it didn’t matter, as he swung a leg and crashed his strike into the bottom corner, curving ever further away from Martínez in the process.
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It was the goal Chelsea deserved. There might not be a team in the Premier League playing as consistently excellently as them – besides Liverpool, of course.
They didn’t exactly go for the jugular in the second half, but they didn’t particularly need to. Aston Villa did get a bit more of a foothold in the game thanks to substitutions; Ross Barkley came within a whisker of pulling a goal back against his former side in the 72nd minute, heading goalwards, beating Sánchez and being denied only by the head of Levi Colwill.
But besides that, they really didn’t threaten. They did a much better job of containing the hosts than they did in the first half, but those defensive amendments were too little, too late; their attacking was impotent, summed up by Jaden Philogene’s 54th minute booking for simulation. They were idealess – and they’d concede a third anyway.
His ball to assist Fernández was good; his goal in the 83rd minute was even better. But that’s no surprise when the man in question is Cole Palmer.
It was typical. He picked the ball up on the edge of the area. Nothing was on. That didn’t matter to him, though, whipping a strike through the bodies and into the top corner. Olsen didn’t even move, and it wouldn’t have mattered if he did.
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This was the cherry on top of another impressive win. They sit third in the Premier League, level with Arsenal on points, goal difference and goals scored. Not many predicted that they’d be in the hunt for the title after their bombastic transfer window, but that’s the situation they’re in – and they look more than good value for their position.
It’s another dire result for Villa, though, now winless in eight games. Granted, games at Stamford Bridge are far from must-wins, but the pressure is firmly on Unai Emery now, his side 12th in the Premier League and scrambling for ideas.
The lineups
CHE: Sánchez; Cucurella, Colwill, Fofana, Caicedo; Fernández, Lavia; Sancho, Palmer, Neto; Jackson
AVI: Martínez; Digne, Torres, Konsa, Cash; Tielemans, Kamara; Philogene, Rogers, McGinn, Watkins