On Wednesday, Joao Pedro scored three goals to bring Chelsea back from behind and beat Aston Villa 4-1 at Villa Park. This result has reignited the Blues’ push for Champions League football. For Pedro, though, the night meant a lot more than just three points.
This season, the 24-year-old has scored 14 goals and assisted on five others for the Blues. With this performance, that number is the same as Nicolas Jackson’s 14 goals in the 2023/24 season. Pedro has nine games left to make history. Tammy Abraham was the last Chelsea striker to score 15 goals in a single Premier League season. However, the academy graduate managed it strangely, scoring seven goals in his first five league games and then only eight in the next 29.
Pedro’s consistency has been much more measured and harsh. Diego Costa was the last Blue to score 20 goals in a league season, doing so in 2014/15 and 2016/17. This goal now seems possible for Joao Pedro. He is now the eighth Brazilian to score a hat-trick in the Premier League, joining Roberto Firmino and Lucas Moura on a short list.
The Brazilian striker took full advantage of Villa’s aggressive high defensive line, and Chelsea made them pay every time they broke forward. Douglas Luiz scored the first goal in less than three minutes with a clever flick from Leon Bailey’s cross, but the home team fell apart quickly as Chelsea got into their groove.
Pedro tied the game with a tap-in from Malo Gusto’s cross, then scored a second goal over Emiliano Martinez in first-half stoppage time. Cole Palmer then scored the rebound from Martinez’s parry to make it 3-1. After that, Alejandro Garnacho passed to Pedro, who rolled the ball into an empty net to complete his hat-trick.
Nicolas Jackson Set To Return To Stamford Bridge After Difficult Bayern Loan
Reports say that Nicolas Jackson will go back to Chelsea in the summer. Bayern Munich won’t use the buy clause in his loan deal because the Senegal international has been unable to get into Vincent Kompany’s starting XI.
Jackson needs to play at least 40 games for at least 45 minutes to trigger Bayern’s obligation to buy him permanently, but he has only played 22 games and only hit the minutes threshold in seven of them. The 24-year-old has only scored five goals in those games, and Bayern didn’t even include him in their DFB-Pokal squad against RB Leipzig.
If Jackson comes back, Chelsea plan to sell the Senegalese striker. After Pedro’s hat-trick against Villa, it is clear who was at the top of the pecking order at Stamford Bridge. Jackson, no matter what happens this summer, will have a very hard time getting back into a meaningful role in West London.