December 26, (THEWILL) – Chelsea defeated Aston Villa 3-1 on Boxing Day to keep pace with Manchester City in the Premier League title race and draw level on points with Liverpool.
Villa manager Steven Gerrard was absent after testing positive for Covid-19 on Christmas Day, and he watched his team lose from the comfort of his home.
Mason Mount’s cross-cum-shot nearly caught Emiliano Martinez off guard as it rattled the top of the crossbar to safety, after a tight first 23 minutes provided nothing in the way of goal-mouth activity.
Villa took the lead shortly after, courtesy of a similar stroke of luck. Reece James met Matt Targett’s cross, and his looping header fooled Edouard Mendy and sailed into the net.
However, Chelsea got a wonderful chance to equalise minutes later when Matty Cash took down Callum Hudson-Odoi, and they did as Jorginho levelled the score from the penalty spot.
Villa went for the lead when Morgan Sanson intercepted a loose ball and released Ollie Watkins, but Mendy was quick off his line to deny him. The teams went into the break tied at 1-1.
Soon after half time, Thomas Tuchel’s side came close to taking the lead when Cash headed Mount’s cross against substitute Romelu Lukaku, but the loose ball was gratefully collected by Martinez.
Lukaku got his chance to put Chelsea ahead just before the hour mark. The Belgian jumped in front of Tyrone Mings to meet Hudson-Odoi’s in-swinger and headed the ball home. It was Lukaku’s first EPL goal since September 11 where his brace helped Chelsea to a 3-0 home win against this same team.
Mount had the chance to make it three for the Blues but after he rounded Martinez, the England midfielder inexplicably pulled his shot wide of an empty net to the shock of everyone watching.
While Villa could scarcely muster a chance, the visitors created a wonderful opportunity on the break when Lukaku and Mateo Kovacic combined to free Hudson-Odoi, but the Chelsea man was denied by a smart stop.
Then, Lukaku bulldozed his way past Matt Targett only to be fouled by Ezri Konsa to give Tuchel’s side one last chance on the break. Gracefully, Jorginho scored from the penalty spot once more to give full points to the visitors.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
