Cole Palmer watches his shot fly into the top corner.Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/Reuters
Anyone turning up at Chelsea with hopes of seeing a wild exhibition of end-to-end, brainless football should start making alternative plans. They are maturing nicely under Enzo Maresca, whose focus on control is squeezing the life out of opposition sides, and continued their rise with this emphatic win over a supine Aston Villa.
Chelsea, who are level on points with second-placed Arsenal, cruised to victory thanks to goals from Nicolas Jackson, Enzo Fernández and Cole Palmer. Villa, who have sunk into mid-table after losing five of their past seven games in all competitions, were blown away and their hopes of challenging for the top four are fading.
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Although Stamford Bridge has witnessed a couple of successful smash-and-grab raids from Villa in recent seasons, Chelsea were better equipped to deal with Unai Emery’s tactics this time. There is snap to go with the style now, structure to go with the invention, and Maresca has allied the ability to make canny use of his resources by instilling drive in a group once prone to passages of inexplicable drift.
It was striking how Villa were lured into thinking they would be allowed to dictate the flow of the game. Slow to read the room and even slower to release the ball, the visitors soon found themselves stumbling into a series of well-laid traps. They seemed startled by sudden bursts of aggression from Chelsea, who met Villa’s attempts to build from the back at a leisurely pace with coordinated moments of pressing, and it was through that extra surge of intensity that Maresca’s side were able to establish a grip through Jackson’s early opener.
For Emery, it was the kind of concession that hinted at an afternoon of exasperation. There was little danger when Pedro Neto saw a cross from the right headed away, but Jaden Philogene took a heavy touch on the edge of the area and was never going to come out on top in a 50-50 with Marc Cucurella.
With Philogene flattened by Cucurella’s firm but fair challenge, Chelsea motored away. Jadon Sancho, starting for the first time in the league for over over a month, had Matty Cash exposed. Sancho waited for Cucurella’s overlapping run and then played a pass down the outside for the left-back, whose deflected cross sat up nicely for Jackson to dart across Ezri Konsa and flick a clever shot in off Emiliano Martínez’s near post.
Undaunted by such a soft concession, Villa initially responded well. They looked to target Moisés Caicedo, filling in at right-back for Chelsea, and Lucas Digne soon found space on the left. Digne sent a cross to the far post but Philogene’s angles were all wrong and the danger passed.
Not for long, though. There was another moment of peril when Ollie Watkins forced an error from Wesley Fofana and went through on goal. Yet the England striker has one goal in his last eight club appearances and his faltering confidence was evident in a shot which did little to extend Robert Sánchez.
Nothing quite ran for Villa. Chelsea squeezed them, forcing Emery’s defence back. Unable to settle, Villa began to make some weird decisions. Youri Tielemans dithered, lost possession and allowed Cole Palmer to shoot. Martínez saved but then picked the ball up when Pau Torres tapped it back to him. Stuart Attwell almost seemed embarrassed by having to give Chelsea an indirect free-kick eight yards from goal.
At least Martínez charged down the subsequent shot from Palmer. Yet the silliness continued when Martínez mistook himself for an outfielder and passed straight to Jackson. Fortunately for Villa’s goalkeeper, the striker could not quite believe his luck and his shot was saved.
With Roméo Lavia and Fernández dominating midfield, though, a second goal was a matter of time. Chelsea kept probing and they were in complete control when quick thinking from Palmer cut Villa open in the 36th minute.
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Fernández, urged by Maresca to make more forays into the final third, was the beneficiary of Palmer’s instinctive pass from the right. The midfielder’s ran had gone unnoticed, meaning he had space to tee himself up and score for the second consecutive game with a shot that swerved beyond Martínez from the edge of the area.
Game over? Pretty much. Villa, who had to replace Martínez with Robin Olsen at half-time, had a few chances to make it interesting – Watkins had a shot saved and Jhon Durán had a header deflected over after coming on – but they look a shadow of their former selves. Has the Champions League worn them out? If so, it is unlikely they will be in it next season.
Chelsea are leaving them behind. They pushed for a third, Jackson shooting over, and got it through a familiar source. Palmer took a pass from the substitute, Noni Madueke, and the gasps were audible when the winger dipped past a half-hearted challenge, shaped to shoot and bent a stunning shot into the top corner with his left foot.