Unai Emery recently graded Aston Villa’s season as a seven out of 10, acknowledging while their progress in Europe has been eye-catching, they badly needed to kick-start their Premier League campaign to bank another Champions League adventure. Approaching the 89th minute, Villa’s season appeared to be stalling, a third consecutive draw incoming. Then the Chelsea goalkeeper Filip Jörgensen made a mess of a routine save, allowing Marco Asensio’s lukewarm volley from Marcus Rashford’s cross to squirm through his gloves.
Rashford’s half-time arrival proved inspired given he also laid the ball on for Asensio to cancel out Enzo Fernández’s early strike. This was a big result for Villa after taking four points from their previous five matches and one that squeezes the order towards the top. Chelsea can vouch for that. Villa are now seventh, a point behind fifth-placed Bournemouth and sixth-placed Chelsea, though those above and below Emery’s side have at least one game in hand.
For Chelsea, this was another ominous takeaway. Their last away win came in Kazakhstan, against Astana in mid-December, and their form has been wayward for a while, having beaten only West Ham, Wolves and Morecambe since Christmas. After successive defeats at Brighton, one in the FA Cup, one in the league, this was another difficult result for Enzo Maresca, whose side are flagging. At the same time Chelsea will wonder how they left empty-handed given Pedro Neto and Cole Palmer missed golden chances to regain the lead in the second half. Neto was the architect for Fernández’s goal, skinning the former Chelsea defender Ian Maatsen before crossing for Fernández, pushed into an advanced role, to finish.
Palmer’s miss was symptomatic of Chelsea’s form. Palmer, so often such a cold-blooded finisher, was unusually bereft of composure. Moisés Caicedo threaded Palmer through one on one with Emiliano Martínez, the England forward wandering behind Lamare Bogarde to latch on to a straight ball. What happened next was a touch slapstick, a Martínez slip spooking Palmer, who then slipped himself at the pivotal moment. By the time Palmer sent a tame shot at goal, the fit-again Ezri Konsa was able to clear. Palmer sat on the turf in frustration. “On one hand we can be almost happy with this reaction because it means he feels bad about the chance he missed,” Maresca said. “Cole is a top player and belongs in that category.”
Thousands of Villa fans spent the previous 24 hours plotting their second trip to Brugge in four months but reaching the Champions League last 16 has undoubtedly damaged their league form. Emery conceded he had mixed feelings on their season so far. Villa won six points from a possible 24 after midweek exertions in Europe in the league phase and an enthralling duel with Liverpool on Wednesday appeared to drain Emery’s side here. Villa were weary and discombobulated for much of the first half, though Ollie Watkins saw a couple of chances to level blocked in quick succession, first by Jörgensen and then Marc Cucurella.
Emery had been bullish about the need to register victory to avoid widening the gap to the top five and recognised something had to change at half-time. That something came in the shape of Rashford, who entered in place of Jacob Ramsey at the interval. The early signs were encouraging, Rashford driving into the box but up the other end Neto flashed another shot wide after Tyrone Mings’s misguided attempt to waltz upfield between Palmer and the Portuguese.
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If Villa have shown defects, then soon it was Chelsea’s turn to exhibit their shortcomings. Chelsea, who lost Trevoh Chalobah to a back injury, did not respond to Villa’s increased pressure and approaching the hour, Asensio’s close-range finish, initially ruled offside, was awarded following a check by the video assistant referee, Paul Tierney. Malo Gusto’s attempt to cut out Matty Cash’s cross inadvertently served to control the ball for Rashford, who, played onside by Fernández, prodded the ball across the six-yard box for Asensio.
Jörgensen saved superbly to deny the substitute Donyell Malen, after Rashford slipped the Dutchman through on goal, but Chelsea paid a hefty price for his error seconds later. Chelsea have now dropped 15 points from winning positions this season – 13 since Boxing Day. “This is probably for me personally the toughest defeat of the season, because the reaction from Brighton was brilliant, the performance very good but at this moment it is not enough,” Maresca said.
Source: theguardian.com
