Aston Villa suffered a defeat to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup third round on Wednesday night, losing 4-3 on penalties after the tie ended 1-1 at full-time.
Timo Werner gave the hosts the lead in the second half, but Cameron Archer’s magical cup run continued as he scored with a brilliant header to equalise to give the travelling supporters reason to cheer.
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Villa certainly had chances in this game, as they did in the Premier League meeting between the two sides earlier this month, and so Dean Smith will be disappointed that we couldn’t be more clinical.
Nevertheless, the strength in depth in the squad now which has allowed us to compete with top sides and our youngsters continuing to impress and show their potential no doubt leaves us with plenty to be positive about too.
Villa player ratings vs Chelsea:
Jed Steer, 7.5 – Relatively untroubled in the first half, but Chelsea forced him into a string of fine saves after the break and he was more than a match. Couldn’t have done much for the goal, will be disappointed he wasn’t able to influence the penalty shootout.
Matty Cash, 8 – A superb performance full of energy down that right side from start to finish. Showed more composure in possession too and produced a fine delivery to find Archer for our equaliser.
Axel Tuanzebe, 7.5 – Solid display and put in a number of blocks to keep Chelsea at bay. Will be disappointed with the goal though as Werner crept in behind him at the back post to head home.
Kortney Hause, 8 – A commanding effort from our bit-part centre-half, as he kept things tight at the back and had a stand-out moment with a brilliant tackle on Romelu Lukaku to deny the Chelsea man when setting up to score.
Ashley Young, 6.5 – Decent shift from the Villa captain, put in a solid defensive display for the most part but couldn’t quite offer us much going the other way. Experience did help at key times but tired as the game went on.
Morgan Sanson, 7 – Gutting to see him forced off after 42 minutes, as the Frenchman looked at home in the Villa midfield with a really promising display. Positive on the ball, wasn’t afraid to get stuck in and push forward. Hopefully the injury isn’t serious.
Marvelous Nakamba, 7 – Covered so much ground in a battling display as he did his best to provide protection for the backline. Did well to break play up in midfield, can still improve his distribution.
Bertrand Traore, 7 – An important run-out for him to get minutes in his legs and work towards getting into his top condition. Showed glimpses of quality and will certainly add a different, and important, dynamic to our attack when at his best.
Emiliano Buendia, 6 – While he worked hard for the team throughout, wasn’t really clicking for our No.10 as he struggled to have a positive influence on our play. Also missed a key chance after we pegged Chelsea back, but he’s one of many who are still seemingly playing catch up in term of fitness and sharpness on the pitch.
Anwar El Ghazi, 5.5 – Didn’t really offer much for us in attack and when he isn’t scoring, that tends to be an issue with him. Put away his penalty brilliantly in the shootout, but unfortunately we couldn’t take advantage of the great start he gave us.
Cameron Archer, 7 – Took his goal brilliantly, as he showed more signs of his potential moving forward and why Villa opted to keep him around instead of loaning him out. Gets marked down though as he missed two big chances in the first half that could have completely changed the course of the game, but nonetheless no reason to be too harsh on him as it was positive again from the youngster.
Substitutes:
Carney Chukwuemeka, 7 – Lacking the final bit of quality in the opposition half, but held his own after coming on and put in a great shift for the team.
Jaden Philogene-Bidace, 6 – Looked lively after coming in and tested Kepa in a threatening cameo outing.
Ezri Konsa, 6 – Did well to shore things up late on, real class to his penalty in the shootout.
