Aston Villa vs Chelsea Review
Marco Asensio netted two goals as Aston Villa rallied to defeat Chelsea 2-1 at Villa Park, closing the gap on European qualification with their first Premier League win in six matches. Chelsea, undeterred by Villa’s strong home record this season, started aggressively and took the lead in under nine minutes. Pedro Neto charged down the right flank and delivered a cross that evaded Emiliano Martínez, allowing a completely unmarked Enzo Fernández to score from close range. The Villa Park crowd responded enthusiastically, and Ollie Watkins attempted to equalize, but his shot was blocked by Filip Jörgensen.
As the game progressed, Fernández attempted to score his second goal but missed, while Watkins couldn’t score after a cross from Youri Tielemans. Chelsea almost extended their lead when Cole Palmer’s shot nearly deflected in at the near post, and Christopher Nkunku tested Martínez with a curling shot. However, Villa showed some promising signs late in the half as they sought their first win since mid-January. The introduction of Marcus Rashford from the bench seemed to boost the hosts, and he quickly teamed up with another January signing to level the score. Matty Cash’s diagonal pass found Rashford at the far post, who then set up Asensio for an easy tap-in.
As Villa pushed forward, the game opened up, but they almost faced consequences when Moisés Caicedo found Palmer, who managed to get past Martínez but was denied by the recovering Ezri Konsa. Villa appeared more likely to score a late goal, but Donyell Malen couldn’t get past Jörgensen in a one-on-one situation. However, Villa’s new dynamic duo struck again in the 89th minute to secure the win. Rashford executed a one-two with Tielemans from a corner before passing it to Asensio, who finished it off with a first-time shot that went under Jörgensen.
Villa broke the trend to become the first home team to win this weekend in the Premier League. This victory also ended a five-match winless run and brought them within one point of Chelsea, who remain in sixth place after not winning any of their last six away league games.
