Aston Villa secured a brilliant 1-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday, as Ollie Watkins’ goal helped us climb to sixth place in the Premier League table.
The hosts started well as Villa came under pressure in the early stages, but despite struggling to show composure in possession, we gradually began to work our way into the contest.
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Both sides had chances, with Emiliano Martinez and Robert Sanchez both forced into good saves, but it was Watkins who made the decisive impact to separate the two sides with his second-half winner.
That’s now four wins in six league games so far this season, as Villa move up to sixth place in the standings and importantly bounced back after our disappointing Europa Conference League opener in midweek.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Chelsea:
Emiliano Martinez, 8.5 – Alert to danger with Chelsea looking to get in behind our high line, and produced a string of decisive saves to initially keep it level, and then protect our lead. Vital impact.
Matty Cash, 7.5 – Strong defensive shift and showed good energy to get up and down the right flank to give us width and an attacking outlet. Villa much more assured and solid on that side with the Polish international starting.
Ezri Konsa, 8.5 – Another superb display. Showed great awareness, positional play, recovery speed and was constantly breaking up Chelsea attacks that came his way.
Pau Torres, 8 – A shaky start as a wayward pass almost cost us in the first minute or so, but he quickly settled and produced a pivotal performance to help us keep a much-needed clean sheet.
Lucas Digne, 7.5 – Did well going forward, especially after Chelsea went down to 10 men as he had more freedom down the left flank. However, got caught out on a few occasions by Sterling, with lingering question marks over his defensive ability.
John McGinn, 7 – Although he wasn’t directly influential or decisive, the Villa captain put in an important shift to give us presence and energy in the midfield battle, which eventually saw us start to gain a level of control over proceedings.
Boubacar Kamara, 8.5 – A timely return to his best form as he was constantly breaking up play in midfield, winning possession back and quickly shifting us up the pitch. Imposed himself really well to get us a foothold in the game as we grew into the encounter and dominated in that area.
Douglas Luiz, 8.5 – In conjunction with Kamara, the Villa midfield duo were excellent in denying Chelsea the chance to dictate in in the middle of the pitch. With his composure, technical ability and passing range, he was able to give us that all-important control and rhythm to our play.
Nicolo Zaniolo, 7.5 – Another positive effort from the Italian international, and he was unfortunate that a great save from Sanchez denied him his first goal for the club. Did well in finding pockets of space in the final third to offer a threat, and he’s clearly worked his way up the pecking order now to be a key figure in Unai Emery’s side.
Moussa Diaby, 7.5 – Not at his most influential over the course of the game, but he continued to offer good movement in the final third to provide an option to his teammates. Did brilliantly in the lead up to our winner too, as it was his initial breakaway and pass that set Watkins through to finish.
Ollie Watkins, 8 – Similar to Diaby in that it was a quiet game for him and his frustration could have easily got the better of him. However, stayed patient, and showed good persistence before eventually producing a fine finish to win the game for us. Great to see him back on the scoresheet after his recent goal drought, which will hopefully get him going on a run now.
Substitutes:
Leon Bailey, 6.5 – Offered a fresh threat down the right side as we continued to cause 10-man Chelsea problems in the second half.
Jacob Ramsey, 6.5 – Great to see him back on the pitch to follow up his effort off the bench in midweek. Gave us a scare as he looked to have picked up a fresh injury problem, but he showed good touch and link-up play as he continues to work his way back up to full match fitness.
Youri Tielemans, N/A
Leander Dendoncker, N/A
Jhon Duran, N/A