The Blues came into the fixture having a 100% record against the Villans, but the visitors made Chelsea sweat in their Women's Super League clash after Chasity Grant gave them the lead inside just two minutes.
A superb spell from the hosts saw them overturn the deficit by netting three times in eight minutes through Sam Kerr, Naomi Girma, and Lauren James to put Chelsea in cruise control.
It was then Aston Villa who had their own magic spell, and had the game level by the 35th minute, thanks to Lynn Wilms and Kirsty Hanson linking up twice in four minutes to end a manic first half three goals apiece.
Sjoeke Nusken scored the only goal in the second period to finish off a clinical team move.
The win moved Chelsea above both Arsenal and Manchester United to keep them just about in the race for the Women’s Super League title.
Story of the Match
Sonia Bompastor headed into this game having made three changes to the side which suffered a midweek defeat in Europe to London rivals Arsenal, with Australian duo Kerr and Ellie Carpenter straight back into the starting lineup following their return from the Asian Cup – Wieke Kaptein also returned to the starting team.
Kerr’s return meant the Blues reverted to a 4-3-3 formation, with Alyssa Thompson and James supporting the Matilda on the flanks.
For Villa, Oriane Jean-Francois started against her former squad among a side who made just one change from their victory over Leicester City, with Lucy Parker making way for Oceane Deslandes.
It didn’t take long for the hosts to fall behind in their final game of the season at Kingsmeadow, as Grant capitalised on a poor Lucy Bronze pass in the centre of the pitch before linking up well with Wilms and poking the ball home at **Hannah Hampton**’s near post.
Bompastor’s side did eventually find their goal on the 20th minute mark, when Nusken found acres of space in the middle before feeding a perfect through pass to Kerr whose effort found the net despite Ellie Roebuck getting a hand on it.
The Blues went ahead just two minutes later, as James and Thompson worked well with a short corner before James’ dangerous cross skimmed off Girma’s head at the back post to give Chelsea the lead.
After thinking she had scored the second goal, James cut in superbly from the right flank before driving an excellent left-footed shot from outside the box to double Chelsea’s lead before the half hour mark.
A fifth goal was found in a manic first half at Kingsmeadow, as Wilms received the ball down the right side and put in a brilliant cross which found Kirsty Hanson at the back post for her 11th goal of the campaign.
Wilms found her hat-trick of assists four minutes later, as Hanson netted her second of the game to tie the game once again.
Chelsea made good use of the space they exploited on the flanks, putting in a number of dangerous deliveries – especially James who looked to take advantage of anything given to her – but the hosts could not quite find someone with the finishing touch after the restart.
On a hat-trick, Hanson pushed for that third goal and almost found it as the game entered the last half an hour. The Scot received the ball on the edge of the area before looking to place a glorious left-footed in-swinger towards the top left corner, but the post denied her.
A frustrated Chelsea grew impatient then desperate, blowing multiple second half chances, but Nusken found a perfect position on the edge of the area to place her shot in the far-right side to round off an excellent team move to earn a precious three points.
James looked ever so dangerous throughout the fixture, as she found herself on the scoresheet and also grabbed an impressive assist, rewarding her for some clinical play down the right all afternoon.
She was ranked first in touches, shots and chances created, proving to be a real thorn in Villa’s side throughout the game.