Aston Villa played out a goalless draw against Chelsea in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge on Friday night, with a replay at Villa Park now ahead.
The hosts were on the front foot in the first half as Villa were put under pressure to stay in the game, but having battled to keep it level going into the break, we improved after the interval.
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Despite building sustained pressure and threatening to find a breakthrough though, Villa lacked a clinical edge and decisive quality in the final third to find a goal, and ultimately it proved to be a frustrating night in west London.
Both sides will arguably feel as though they had the openings to get the win, but we’ll now face Mauricio Pochettino’s side again in the replay next month to determine who advances to the next round.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Chelsea:
Emi Martinez, 8.5 – Superb once again as it was business as usual for the Villa goalkeeper. Produced a string of important saves in the first half to keep us in it, as he was alert to danger and stepped up when needed. Calm in possession when distributing out from the back too and swept up on multiple occasions when rushing out from his goal.
Matty Cash, 6 – Struggled defensively up against Sterling which was a concern, but did well for the most part in limiting his threat. Got forward and posed a threat of his own, and almost scoring the winner having forced a fine save from Petkovic.
Ezri Konsa, 6.5 – Back in his favoured centre-half position, he was calm and composed throughout. Made some important interventions as Villa came under pressure, particularly in the opening 45 minutes.
Clement Lenglet, 6 – Looked shaky on the ball on occasion and Chelsea almost pounced on a mistake of his to break the deadlock. Settled as the game went on, especially after the break, and will hopefully continue to improve if Pau Torres remains sidelined by injury.
Alex Moreno, 6 – Energetic to get up and down the left flank, but while he was tested by Madueke defensively, he couldn’t make the most of some openings in the final third to create a clear-cut chance for our forwards.
John McGinn, 7 – Physical and tenacious in midfield, both in and out of possession. Used the ball smartly as he was back in his more effective role of providing that link between defence and attack in a central, advanced position. A solid effort from the Villa skipper.
Boubacar Kamara, 7 – Impressive from the Frenchman, as he plays such an important role in that defensive midfield position with his ability to read the game, break up possession and disrupt the opposition’s rhythm and attacking threat. Calm on the ball too, he put in a positive shift.
Douglas Luiz, 6.5 – Chelsea made it difficult for him as he didn’t have time on the ball to find passing lanes, and in turn to be more influential in our build-up play. He still used the ball well and kept us ticking as we searched for a breakthrough though. Had an early effort ruled out by VAR for handball.
Youri Tielemans, 7 – Played a key role between the lines as he was almost always an option to play the ball into the final third and link things together. Will be disappointed though as he had a couple of chances that he should have done better with to really test Petkovic.
Moussa Diaby, 6 – Another quiet game for Diaby as he didn’t look effective for the most part. Had his moments as he showed good movement and pace when the game became stretched in the second half as he spun into the channels and created a threat, but we need to see more of that and a bigger impact in front of goal.
Ollie Watkins, 6 – Similar to Diaby in that the pair looked more of a threat in the second half as we stretched Chelsea’s defence and exploited space, but he had a couple of largely speculative efforts on goal which couldn’t find a breakthrough as we looked blunt in attack for the most part.
Substitutes:
Nicolo Zaniolo, N/A
Diego Carlos, N/A
Leon Bailey, N/A
