The contrast between Chelsea and Aston Villa could not have been much starker over the weekend. Where Chelsea struggled to break down an extremely fallible Arsenal side and slumped to a 3-1 defeat – their third in their last four matches – Villa played like absolute demons against Crystal Palace and, despite going down to 10 men on the stroke of half time, blazed their way to a second consecutive 3-0 win.
While Villa have already established themselves as one of the most dangerous sides outside the established top six this season – teams don’t generally thrash Liverpool 7-2 unless they have something special about them – this felt like an especially perilous time to face them.
Speaking after the Arsenal game while giving off the deflated air of a punctured tube man on a petrol station forecourt, Frank Lampard lamented a “lethargic” first half, admitted that his players lacked character and promised to make changes to “inject energy” into the team. As motivational strategies go, it was high risk.
Lampard was true to his word and reshuffled his starting XI, making six changes to the team he fielded at the Emirates. Timo Werner was one of the most conspicuous casualties, having struggled badly against Arsenal and found himself substituted at half time.
While some of the changes were no doubt down to the gruelling 48-hour turnaround between matches – with fixtures coming thick and fast across an absurdly congested calendar, it’s little surprise that fatigue is becoming an issue – others felt more pointed.
The brutal schedule is one of several mitigating factors in Werner’s recent form, but Lampard’s assessment that he “wasn’t giving us enough with or without the ball” against Arsenal must have hurt.
Despite Chelsea’s fresh legs, Villa made the better start at Stamford Bridge. Six minutes in, Jack Grealish accelerated away from N’Golo Kante in the final third and forced a smart save from Edouard Mendy. From the ensuing corner, Anwar El Ghazi thrashed a shot at goal which was deflected into Mendy’s outstretched gloves.
With a quarter of an hour gone, Grealish burst into space on the left and executed a lethal cutback only for his teammates to let it run. A few minutes earlier, he had almost produced an assist at the wrong end after sending Christian Pulisic through one-on-one with a loose pass.
Much to Grealish’s relief, Pulisic hit the side netting. Villa composed themselves and continued to threaten, Ollie Watkins challenging Mendy in the box before Matty Cash thundered an effort over the crossbar.
Having resisted Villa’s early pressure, however, it was Chelsea who opened the scoring. Long-time devotees of the beautiful enigma they call Olivier Giroud will have been overwhelmed by a powerful sense of deja vu after the goal, which felt like his career in a microcosm.
Dropping deep and doubling up as a statuesque playmaker, Giroud found Pulisic who moved the ball to Ben Chilwell out wide. Finishing the move he started, Giroud charged into the box and belted a low header in at the near post.
Barring a shaky moment for Villa when Mason Mount skipped through their defence and sent a rocket wide, both sides were limited to half chances until the break. Like the first half in reverse, Chelsea looked threatening after the restart but Villa ended up with a goal.
The hosts wanted a foul after a coming-together between Grealish and Andreas Christensen which left the latter crumpled on the turf, but Villa played on, Cash crossed to El Ghazi at the far post and he squeezed a shot between Mendy’s legs on the volley. While Grealish’s clash with Christensen will divide opinion, the all-seeing eye of VAR remained closed.
Chelsea’s attacking rhythm was much improved and they had the ball in the back of the net through Cesar Azpilicueta around the 65-minute mark, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.
With the game now being played at a frantic tempo, John McGinn hit the crossbar with a long-range thump before Callum Hudson-Odoi stung Emi Martinez’s palms. While the two sides cut great swathes through each other for the rest of the game, it somehow ended 1-1. Werner, on as a second-half sub, curled over the crossbar late on.
Lampard demanded a response from his side and, in fairness to them, he got one. It wasn’t enough for a win but, in a seriously tough game, nobody could accuse Chelsea of lethargy. With a six-day break until their next match against Manchester City, his players can now regroup and lick their wounds from the last few weeks. Presuming City are fit to play, that is.
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