Aston Villa stun Chelsea to pile pressure on Potter

Aston Villa defeated Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening, a result that will heap pressure on Blues manager Graham Potter. This was Villa’s first win in London against the Blues in over a decade. 

Mykhailo Mudryk spurned a golden opportunity to put the hosts ahead after just six minutes but hit his effort straight at Emiliano Martinez in the Villa goal.

Villa take advantage of poor Chelsea defending

Unai Emery’s side took the lead in the 18th minute when Ollie Watkins benefited from some calamitous defending from Marc Cucurella. The left-back erred in his judgment to defend a long ball, only to see Watkins race on to his mistimed header before chipping the ball over the stranded Kepa Arrizabalaga in the Chelsea goal.

Joao Felix and Enzo Fernandez came close to restoring parity, but it was Mudryk who got the best chance of the lot. The Ukrainian was played through on goal by Mateo Kovacic but his tame shot was straight at Martinez who saved with ease. 

Chelsea piled on the pressure before the half-time whistle to get an equalizer but were denied again. Ben Chilwell hit the post in the 35th minute before Martinez made a string of good saves to keep the hosts at bay. 

The hosts did have the ball in the back of the net just on the stroke of half-time when Chilwell scored with a superb glancing header. However, the goal didn’t stand as he had fouled Ashley Young in the buildup. 

Chelsea started the second half much like how they ended the first. Potter’s side pushed men forward but were let down by the final ball as Villa held on to their lead with resilient defending. 

Josh McGinn then doubled the lead for the visitors in the 56th minute with a thumping strike as Villa made Chelsea pay for their lack of cutting edge.

Kante makes return from injury

Potter brought on N’Golo Kante from the bench with the midfielder making his first appearance in over seven months. However, the Frenchman failed to trigger any sort of comeback for the Blues who were greeted with boos by the home crowd at the end of the game.

The result means that the Villans climb up to ninth place in the table, just two points adrift of a place in Europe. Chelsea, meanwhile, drop out of the top half and are three points behind in 11th.

Photo Credit: IMAGO / Uk Sports Pics Ltd