Chelsea suffered another defeat in the Premier League on Saturday evening, with Aston Villa snatching a 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge.
Enzo Maresca’s side have still only won twice in December, with their clash against the Villans their third loss this month.
Maresca
It was a strong first-half performance from the home side. Villa were extremely passive and happy to sit back and let Chelsea have the ball.
The Blues were knocking on the door, but it took a touch from Joao Pedro to give them the lead. He got a deflection onto Reece James’ corner, which put them 1-0 up at half-time.
It was a substitution which essentially won Villa the game. Ollie Watkins came off the bench to score twice; his equaliser saw him burst through into the penalty box and get a shot off, which was saved by Robert Sanchez before flicking off his knee and in.
His second was a brilliant header in the 84th minute. The England international rose highest to meet a corner, which he headed home into the bottom left corner. Chelsea, who had taken Cole Palmer off, were not able to find the equaliser.
C Palmer
It was a poor showing, with Maresca’s side struggling to cope with the substitutes from Villa.
Why Chelsea struggled against Villa’s subs
It was certainly that triple sub from Emery with 30 minutes or so to go which won the visitors the game. Watkins scored the goals, but Amadou Onana and former Blues star Jadon Sancho proved too much to cope with, too.
Sancho Enzo
Chelsea, too, made substitutions of their own in response to the Villa equaliser, which was scored in the 63rd minute. However, they were attacking changes as they looked to buy a winner, and that is something which could have cost the Blues.
Indeed, with Maresca’s side committing bodies forward, it opened up the game perfectly for Villa. Sancho, with his carries from outwide, enjoyed playing against Malo Gusto on his weaker side.
The midfield was left exposed against a powerful ball carrier in Onana, and Watkins had space to roam the channels, as he does so well.
Watkins
It is understandable why Chelsea made the substitutions they did, but it certainly played well into Villa’s hands. Perhaps Maresca could have done more to combat the space that opened up for the visitors.
It was also a tough day at the office for a couple of Chelsea defenders.
The Chelsea defenders who struggled vs. Villa
After a good spell of form for Chelsea’s backline, Maresca made the decision to rotate Wesley Fofana out of the side to ensure he is well rested.
The new-look partnership of Benoit Badiashile and Trevoh Chalobah was not quite as effective.
Chalobah
Described as “not good enough” by journalist Graeme Bailey, the pair struggled to cope with Watkins.
It was France defender Badiashile who gave the ball away for Watkins’ goal, and Chalobah who couldn’t stop him bursting into the box.
The pair, who earn a combined £140k per week, each received 5/10 ratings for their performance from Goal journalist Richie Mills. He said the Frenchman may 'not get many more opportunities' and England star Chalobah 'struggled' to deal with his countryman.
Their stats from the game show how poor a performance it was. Badiashile made one error, which led to a goal, and his centre-back partner, a graduate of Cobham, could only win four out of nine total duels.
Chalobah & Badiashile vs. Villa
Stat
Touches
Pass accuracy
Recoveries
Duels won
Errors leading to goals
Stats from Sofascore
Maresca may well decide that starting the pair together again might not be the way forward.
Both players struggled to cope with the demands of Watkins running in behind them, although they were not helped by the space.
Badiashile
It seems likely that Fofana will slot back into the side for the Blues’ next game against Bournemouth. Who he partners is a different question, but Maresca might well want to continue building on the partnership he had with Chalobah.
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