Aston Villa vs Chelsea result

It finished 2-0 to Chelsea at Villa Park as we made it five wins in a row in all competitions, plus four consecutive clean sheets, but that tells only part of the story of a tough match in Birmingham.

In truth, it was a harsh result on Aston Villa, who performed well throughout and caused us particular problems in the first half. That was when Kepa was made to work for his clean sheet with an impressive triple save, denying John McGinn, Jacob Ramsey and Danny Ings in a matter of seconds, before then brilliantly tipping a point-blank Ings header over the crossbar.

By that point Chelsea were already leading, though, as Mount had punished a defensive error ruthlessly. When a deflected cross came into the box, Tyrone Mings misjudged it and headed the ball back into the air and towards goal, where our No19 patiently waited for it to drop before side-footing a volley past Emiliano Martinez.

Things were fairly even in the second half following a string of changes by Graham Potter, but still far from comfortable for the Blues, until Mount was brought down on the edge of the box by Mings. The 22-year-old took the free-kick himself and his dipping shot wrong-footed Martinez to put us 2-0 up. After our last game Mount had spoken about his disappointment at not scoring yet this season, despite three assists in his last two games. Now he was off the mark with a vital brace to give Chelsea the three points.

The selection

Graham Potter has made three changes to his team to face Aston Villa, the first forced upon him with Reece James confirmed to be out for around eight weeks with the knee injury he suffered in the midweek win at AC Milan. came in instead, initially alongside in midfield, with Raheem Sterling shifting to right wing-back and Ben Chilwell on the left.

Trevoh Chalobah and continued in the back three, the second of those as captain, while Marc Cucurella came into the side in place of . Kepa Arrizabalaga continued as goalkeeper.

was the third player to be introduced, joining and in attack.

Before kick-off, the Blues players showed their support for Chelsea Women head coach Emma Hayes by warming up wearing the message ‘get well soon Emma’ on their tops, after Hayes announced this week that she would be taking some time away from the game while she recovered from surgery.

Quick start

Nearly the worst possible start as a high ball into the Chelsea box inside the first minute was nodded into the path of Danny Ings, but thankfully as his shot/cross bobbled across the six-yard box, Kovacic was on hand to hook clear from under the crossbar and, when Douglas Luiz tried to volley the ball back towards goal, Kepa was able to save comfortably.

Within the first five minutes Aston Villa set out their stall with a clear plan, repeatedly looking to bypass the midfield with a quick ball over our defence for Ings and Ollie Watkins to chase, with Kepa showing awareness and composure to shepherd a couple of such efforts out of play on a couple of occasions.

However, it was Chelsea who found an early goal to silence the home crowd, albeit with the help of some poor defending by Villa. Chilwell got away from Jacob Ramsey way too easily on the left wing and, although the young midfielder recovered in time to block the cross, he only succeeded in deflecting it high as it looped towards the penalty spot.

It seemed Tyrone Mings would be able to deal with it comfortably once it came down from its high arc, but the centre-back completely misjudged his header and sent it back up into the air and towards goal. When it dropped in the box for the second time, Mount was only too grateful to accept the invitation and coolly swept a volley low past Emiliano Martinez and into the back of the net.

Villa push back

Despite our lead, it was far from one-sided as the home team had started the game well and came close to an equaliser as the clock ticked over to signal the end of the first 15 minutes. Sterling, looking more comfortable going forward than defending in his role as a wing-back, couldn’t prevent Ashley Young squeezing the ball past him on edge of our box. John McGinn took the opportunity to stand a cross up to the back post, where Leon Bailey rose highest to meet it with his head, but thankfully his effort bounced off the outside of the woodwork and went behind.

As Aston Villa continued to look for any opportunity to get their front three running in behind, it then took a stunning save, or three, from Kepa to maintain our slender first-half lead. A quick Villa attack gave McGinn the chance to shoot with power from the edge of the box, but it was too central and Kepa was able to beat it away.

It fell to Ramsey in a similar position and this time they went for accuracy, aiming for the bottom corner, but our goalkeeper got down brilliantly to tip it onto the post. Ings had a third go for Villa from a tight angle and yet again Kepa was equal to it, but the offside flag was raised for the third of those chances.

The Spaniard was definitely the busier of the goalkeepers at this stage, pushing the ball away again at is near post after a wayward pass from Aubameyang had presented Ings with another sight of goal. It wasn’t the first time a loose pass in our own half had caused problems for Chelsea. Possibly Kepa’s best save yet arrived with half-an-hour played when Ings met Bailey’s cross with a powerful header from four yards out, only for our keeper to show great reactions to palm it over.

In the closing stages of the first half Potter made a slight change to the team, moving Loftus-Cheek out to right wing-back and Sterling further forward into the front three, with Mount slotting into midfield as a result. It nearly had an instant impact, as we hit the woodwork with all three players heavily involved.

Searching for control

Loftus-Cheek started the move by the right touchline and opened up the space by playing it inside the Mount. The new midfielder escaped the attentions of Douglas Luiz before Havertz took over, charging down the centre of the pitch and squaring across the edge of the box, where Sterling arrived to curl a shot towards goal, only to see it strike the crossbar with Martinez beaten.

However, despite that chance, the first half ended the same way the majority had been played out, with Chelsea in the lead but not the ascendancy after a strong 45 minutes by Aston Villa when we had struggled to gain our usual level of control over the game.

Potter went even further during the break as he looked to find a more settled line-up which could make our lead begin to feel a little more comfortable, making two changes at half-time. The first was a straight swap, with Kalidou Koulibaly replacing Cucurella on the left of the back three, and the other saw Cesar Azpilicueta introduced at wing-back, allowing Loftus-Cheek and Mount to return to their more familiar positions in the front three and centre of midfield respectively.

Things certainly seemed to have improved in the early stages of the second half, Villa needing a strong block to prevent Mount finding the target at the end of a nice flowing move, but the home crowd soon found their voice again when Thiago Silva was required to clear well twice in quick succession, and then Watkins glanced a header wide from a dangerous cross by Matt Cash.

Breathing room

Our head coach still didn’t seem happy with the team’s shape or the way things were playing out, with loose touches and passes threatening to leave us exposed at the back, so two more changes followed before too long, with Conor Gallagher and Jorginho the players coming on.

Before the latter even touched the ball, Chelsea extended our lead, and it was Mount the man who stood up when the Blues needed him again. It was his weaving run directly at the Villa defence which earned us a free-kick in a dangerous position, as Mings dangled a leg across to bring him down just outside the box.

Mount stepped up to take the set-piece himself, firing a dipping effort towards goal which wrong-footed the goalkeeper, who had taken an early step towards his near post, before dropping below the crossbar and rippling the back of the net. Chelsea were two up and, although the scoreline seemed harsh on Villa, the Blues supporters weren’t complaining after being on the receiving end of such situations so many times.

While that goal didn’t change the game completely, it did help the Chelsea players relax a little while simultaneously taking some of the energy out of the Aston Villa press, having the result of the Blues finding it a little easier to retain possession.

Indeed, as unlikely as it had seemed for much of the game, we came very close to making it 3-0 when Gallagher showed a neat piece of skill to get free on the right and delivered a cross towards the penalty, where somehow Sterling beat two tall centre-backs in the air to header back down to the near post, but it bounced a whisker wide.

In all honesty, a three-goal victory would have been incredibly hard on the hosts after they had caused us plenty of problems at Villa Park, especially in the first half. Not that it mattered. It was Chelsea who had shown a clinical streak, meaning we could see out the game for another win and another clean sheet for Potter’s Blues.

Chelsea (3-4-3): Kepa; Chalobah, Thiago Silva (c), Cucurella (Koulibaly h-t); Sterling (Broja 89), Loftus-Cheek, Kovacic (Jorginho 65), Chilwell; Mount, Aubameyang (Gallagher 58), Havertz (Azpilicueta h-t)
Unused subs: Mendy, Chukwuemeka, Zakaria, Pulisic
Scorer: Mount 7, 66
Booked: Chilwell 33, Koulibaly 61, Mount 83

Aston Villa (4-3-3): Martinez; Cash, Mings, Konsa, Young; Ramsey (Dendoncker 78), Luiz, McGinn (c) (Coutinho 73); Bailey (Buendia 66), Ings, Watkins
Unused subs: Olsen, Chambers, Bednarek, Bogarde, Nakamba, Sanson

Referee: Robert Jones

Aston Villa vs Chelsea stats

Aston Villa vs Chelsea Premier League table

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What time are the Aston Villa vs Chelsea highlights available?

Match highlights from this game will be available from 6pm UK time on matchday on chelseafc.com and The 5th Stand app. Extended highlights and the full match can be watched from midnight on Friday.

Chelsea fixtures - what's next?

It is only three days until Chelsea's next Premier League away trip, albeit a much shorter one across west London to play Brentford.

Next fixture: Brentford vs Chelsea

• Date: Wednesday 19 October 2022

• Kick-off time: 7.30pm UK time

• Location: Gtech Community Stadium