Match details

ASTON VILLA 1 CHELSEA 3

Premier League, Villa Park, 07.05.22, 3pm

Aston Villa(4-3-3): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings (c) Targett; Sanson (El Ghazi 76), Douglas Luiz, J Ramsey; Buendia (Carney Chukwuemeka 73), Ings (Traore 73), Watkins
Unused subs: Steer, Tuanzebe, Hause, Trezeguet, Iroegbunam, Davis
Booked: Martinez 33, Mings 64, Konsa 90+1
Scorer: James own goal 28
Head coach: Steven Gerrard (isolating due to Covid-19, team taken by Gary McAllister)

Chelsea(3-4-2-1): Mendy; Chalobah (Lukaku h/t), Thiago Silva (Christensen 52), Rudiger; James, Kante (Kovacic 63), Jorginho (c), Alonso; Mount, Hudson-Odoi; Pulisic
Unused subs: Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Sarr, Saul, Barkley, Ziyech
Booked: Alonso 69
Scorers: Jorginho 34 (pen), 90+3 (pen), Lukaku 56
Head coach: Thomas Tuchel

Referee: Martin Atkinson
Attendance: 41,907

• Aston Villa v Chelsea: Pre-Match stats

• Aston Villa vs Wolves: Where to watch, TV channel, kick off time

Match summary

It was Christmas cheer for Chelsea in the Midlands as we came back from going a goal down to take three points and stay in touch with the league leaders, with substitute Romelu Lukaku coming on to score between two Jorginho penalties.

The game was lively Boxing Day fare with Jorginho’s first spot-kick ensuring the first half finished all-square, after Reece James had scored an own goal when a cross diverted in off the top of the wing-back’s head. The penalty that made the score 1-1 was awarded for a foul on Callum Hudson-Odoi, back in a league starting line-up for the first time in a month, and he made another big contribution when crossing for Lukaku’s goal only 10 minutes after the centre-forward had been introduced.

In the first half, Aston Villa looked capable of causing Chelsea problems, on the break especially, and while the visitors from London had twice as much possession before the interval, shots on goal and corners were shared pretty evenly between the sides. Mason Mount, with a speculative ball in, clipped the crossbar when the game was still scoreless.

In the second half, a gap in class between the two teams became clearer, and we completed a deserved win when Lukaku was brought down and Jorginho netted his sixth penalty in his past six games. The victory moved us on to the same points as Liverpool (whose game was postponed) and six behind Manchester City.