[ad_1]
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery masterminded another victory away from home with a composed display against Chelsea to increase pressure on Blues boss Graham Potter.
Ollie Watkins opened the scoring from a Marc Cucurella blunder at Stamford Bridge, latching on to the Chelsea defender’s backwards header to lob home, before John McGinn’s second-half rocket put the game out of reach for the home side.
It was a familiar tale for Chelsea, who squandered chance after chance as Villa exploited their weakness on the counter-attack.
It is the Villans fifth win on the road since Emery took over in October and means they have now picked up 16 points away from home, a tally equalled only by Manchester City in that time.
All 10 of Chelsea’s victories this season have come against bottom-half opposition but this loss means they drop into 11th themselves while Villa move up to ninth, one point off Liverpool in eighth.
Villa continue brilliant run
Aston Villa’s record of 26 points in 14 games under Emery is bettered only by the Premier League’s top three – Arsenal and the two Manchester clubs.
Based on this performance, it is easy to see why.
Villa were happy to sit back and allow Chelsea to dominate in the attack, creating little themselves but benefiting from the home side’s poor finishing.
McGinn had hammered a powerful strike off the bar moments before Watkins’ opener but fired a 25-yard shot into the net in the 56th minute.
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, making his 100th Aston Villa appearance, made a superb save with his feet to deny Joao Felix in the latter stages – as Emery’s genius engineered an important away win.
Emery outlined his side’s European ambitions after their 3-0 win over Bournemouth last time out – and with this victory, Villa’s hopes of qualification are growing.
More to follow.
How to play
Rate players out of 10 throughout or after the game. The rater will close 30 minutes after the final whistle.
Rating range key = Give it up = Pure perfection
Chelsea
-
Squad number1Player nameArrizabalaga
-
Squad number24Player nameJames
-
Squad number26Player nameKoulibaly
-
Squad number32Player nameCucurella
-
Squad number12Player nameLoftus-Cheek
-
Squad number5Player nameFernández
-
Squad number8Player nameKovacic
-
Squad number21Player nameChilwell
-
Squad number29Player nameHavertz
-
Squad number15Player nameMudryk
-
Squad number11Player nameJoão Félix
-
Squad number7Player nameKanté
-
Squad number10Player namePulisic
-
Squad number23Player nameGallagher
-
Squad number31Player nameMadueke
Aston Villa
-
Squad number1Player nameE Martínez
-
Squad number18Player nameYoung
-
Squad number4Player nameKonsa
-
Squad number5Player nameMings
-
Squad number15Player nameÁlex Moreno
-
Squad number7Player nameMcGinn
-
Squad number44Player nameKamara
-
Squad number6Player nameDouglas Luiz
-
Squad number41Player nameJ Ramsey
-
Squad number10Player nameBuendía
-
Squad number11Player nameWatkins
-
Squad number16Player nameChambers
-
Squad number27Player nameDigne
-
Squad number31Player nameBailey
-
Squad number32Player nameDendoncker
Line-ups
Chelsea
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 1Arrizabalaga
- 24James
- 26Koulibaly
- 32CucurellaSubstituted forPulisicat 80′minutes
- 12Loftus-CheekSubstituted forKantéat 57′minutes
- 5FernándezBooked at 68mins
- 8KovacicBooked at 39minsSubstituted forGallagherat 80′minutes
- 21ChilwellBooked at 54mins
- 29Havertz
- 15MudrykSubstituted forMaduekeat 57′minutes
- 11João Félix
Substitutes
- 4Badiashile
- 7Kanté
- 10Pulisic
- 13Bettinelli
- 14Chalobah
- 19Mount
- 23Gallagher
- 30Chukwuemeka
- 31Madueke
Aston Villa
Formation 4-4-2
- 1E Martínez
- 18Young
- 4Konsa
- 5Mings
- 15Moreno LoperaSubstituted forDigneat 89′minutesBooked at 90mins
- 7McGinn
- 44KamaraBooked at 4minsSubstituted forChambersat 45′minutesBooked at 84mins
- 6Douglas LuizSubstituted forDendonckerat 87′minutes
- 41J Ramsey
- 10BuendíaSubstituted forBaileyat 76′minutes
- 11Watkins
Substitutes
- 3Santos Silva
- 9Traoré
- 16Chambers
- 22Durán
- 27Digne
- 31Bailey
- 32Dendoncker
- 38Sinisalo
- 64Wright
- Referee:
- Andy Madley
- Attendance:
- 40,082
Live Text
-
Match ends, Chelsea 0, Aston Villa 2.
-
Second Half ends, Chelsea 0, Aston Villa 2.
-
Attempt missed. Ben Chilwell (Chelsea) left footed shot from the left side of the box is too high following a set piece situation.
-
Conor Gallagher (Chelsea) wins a free kick on the left wing.
-
Foul by Leon Bailey (Aston Villa).
-
Lucas Digne (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
-
Noni Madueke (Chelsea) wins a free kick on the right wing.
-
Foul by Lucas Digne (Aston Villa).
-
Conor Gallagher (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
-
Foul by John McGinn (Aston Villa).
-
Offside, Chelsea. N’Golo Kanté tries a through ball, but Ben Chilwell is caught offside.
-
Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Emiliano Martínez.
-
Attempt saved. Christian Pulisic (Chelsea) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is saved in the top left corner. Assisted by Enzo Fernández.
-
Substitution, Aston Villa. Lucas Digne replaces Álex Moreno.
-
Corner, Aston Villa. Conceded by Noni Madueke.
-
Substitution, Aston Villa. Leander Dendoncker replaces Douglas Luiz.
-
Calum Chambers (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card.
-
Reece James (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
-
Foul by Jacob Ramsey (Aston Villa).
-
Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Tyrone Mings.
- Our coverage of your Premier League club is bigger and better than ever before – here’s everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a moment
[ad_2]
By Jess Anderson
Source link
