Aston Villa showed extraordinary resilience to beat Chelsea at Villa Park on Saturday evening, coming back from an early deficit to turn the game around and outplay the vastly more expensive, albeit injury depleted, Blues squad.
Enzo Fernandez for Chelsea in the ninth minute already, getting at the end of a Pedro Neto cross after the Portuguese winger beat Ian Maatsen on the flank to head home from close range. However, in the 57th minute, substitute Marcus Rashford assisted Marco Asensio to equalize, and the same duo combined again in the same manner in the 89th, with a bit of inadvertent help from Chelsea goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen, to secure a late triumph for the home side.
Teams
Villa boss Unai Emery was without the services of three midfielders – Boubacar Kamara, Ross Barkley and Amadou Onana, as well as defender Pau Torres.
Emiliano Martinez stood between the posts. Ezri Konsa returned from injury to take his place in the heart of defence, with Tyrone Mings beside him, Matty Cash on the right, and Ian Maatsen on the left. John McGinn and Youri Tielemans paired up in the middle of the park, while the trio of Marco Asensio, Morgan Rogers and Jacob Ramsey played just behind striker Ollie Watkins.
The list of names Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca had to make do without was longer. Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile were unable to take his place in the back line, there was no Romeo Lavia in midfield, and the attack lacked Nicolas Jackson, Noni Madueke, Mykhaylo Mudryk and Marc Guiu.
With Filip Jorgensen in goal, the back line consisted of Levi Colwill, Trevoh Chalobah and Reece James. Midfielders Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez were flanked by wing-backs Malo Gusto and Marc Cucurella, while Christopher Nkunku and Cole Palmer supported Pedro Neto as the focal point of attack.
Match recap
A tactical adjustment sparked a bright start for Chelsea, who shrugged off the early setback of Chalobah’s injury to break the deadlock within nine minutes.
Neto, deployed as a central striker, caused havoc early on and was instrumental in the Blues’ opener. Driving down the right flank, he whipped in a dangerous cross that Fernandez tapped home.
Fernandez came close to doubling his tally ten minutes later when he connected with Cole Palmer’s superb cross, but the Argentina international never looked assured as his header drifted wide.
At the other end, Villa’s first meaningful attack arrived around the 20-minute mark. Ollie Watkins’ low strike was parried by Jorgensen before the forward saw another effort well-blocked by Cucurella.
Fernandez curled a shot over the bar, while Palmer had an attempt deflected just wide, but no further goals arrived before the referee signaled the end of an entertaining first half.
Ten minutes into the second period, Villa drew level. Rashford squared the ball for Asensio to bundle in from close range, and while the goal was initially ruled out for offside, a VAR review confirmed it should stand.
Palmer seemed certain to score in the 75th minute when he raced through on goal. He sent Emiliano Martinez to the ground but lost his footing at the crucial moment, allowing Konsa to recover and clear the danger.
With full time approaching, Villa grabbed the winner. Rashford and Asensio combined once more, and the latter’s shot somehow slipped through Jorgensen’s hands, trickling over the line to seal all three points for Villa.
Villa’s loan deals pay off
Having sold Jhon Duran to Saudi Arabia, Aston Villa had to replenish their attacking ranks in the January transfer window, and rather than replacing the striker straight up, they signed two wide attackers on loan. Rashford arrived from Manchester United and Asensio came from Paris Saint-Germain, each looking to reignite a waning spark.
And if this game is anything to go by, it worked very well.
Not only did Rashford and Asencio combine for both goals for Emery’s side, but they looked very sharp throuought – Asencio from the start, and Rashford from his introduction in the place of Ramsey at the break. They also played very well in the 2-2 draw against league leaders Liverpool earlier in the week.
There is no more Duran, but the arrivals of these two players have certainly improved the overall quality of Villa’s attacking ranks, joining the likes of Watkins, Rogers, Leon Bailey and Donyell Malen (the latter two also looked very good after coming on in the 77th minute). This abundance of talent will surely play a role as Villa fight to qualify for the Champions League again.
Chelsea need a goalkeeper
Jorgensen will surely try to forget this game as soon as possible – there is no excuse for letting the second Villa goal in, but it will probably haunt his darkest dreams for a while.
Chelsea currently have four goalkeepers in their senior squad – Jorgensen, Robert Sanchez, Marcus Bettinelli and Lucas Bergstrom. And while Bettinelli and Bergstrom haven’t really had a chance to stake a claim for a regular place between the posts, Jorgensen and Sanchez have, and neither has managed to string a few convincing performances together.
To make the matter even more frustrating, the Blues also have two goalkeepers they’ve sent out on loan – Kepa Arrizabalaga at Bournemouth and Djordje Petrovic at RC Strasbourg, and both are doing very well at their respective temporary clubs. It should, however, be said that both Kepa and Petrovic had their chance at Chelsea, and much like Sanchez and Jorgensen, they never really impressed.
With the summer transfer window approaching, Chelsea will surely want to consider the market very carefully. They’ve never been shy to make a big-money investment, and though they’ve been known to make mistakes, it’s probably time for them to spend big on a new No. 1.
Top-four race
Speaking of Champions League qualification, neither Villa nor Chelsea are anywhere close to achieving the feat at this point, signaling the size of the respective tasks they face between now and the end of the season. Liverpool and Arsenal are far ahead and there’s no real point in thinking about overtaking either.
But the remaining two spots are still up for grabs. Third-place Nottingham Forest, with 47 points, play on Sunday away to Newcastle, who sit eighth with 41. Reigning champions Manchester City are fourth, and they’re in for a real spectacle at the Etihad, also on Sunday, when Liverpool come to town, with the Reds seeking to take advantage of Arsenal’s surprising home defeat to West Ham to increase their lead in the title race.
Fifth-place Bournemouth, who also lost unexpectedly at home – to Wolves – share the tally of 43 points with Chelsea in sixth, and Villa’s victory over the Blues has put them a single point behind this duo.
There is a long way to go yet and the race for places three and four will surely take quite a few twists and turns before the season is over.
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