Chelsea’s miserable slump continued as they gave up an early lead to fall 2-1 to Aston Villa on Saturday.
Enzo Fernandez netted early on to give the Blues a deserved lead but, as seems to be the case these days, Chelsea once again collapsed in the second half as Marco Asensio netted twice, with his second strike trickling over the line courtesy of a huge error from Blues stopper Filip Jorgensen.
How the game unfolded
A tactical tweak led to a fast start from Chelsea, who overcame the early blow of Trevoh Chalobah’s injury to open the scoring after just nine minutes.
Pedro Neto, lining up as a central striker, caused all sorts of problems early on and was the creator for the Blues’ opening goal, driving down the right wing and fizzing in a dangerous cross which was tapped home by Fernandez.
Fernandez was frustrated not to double his tally ten minutes later when he rose to meet Cole Palmer’s excellent cross, but the Argentina international, who isn’t known for his aerial ability, never looked confident as his effort drifted wide.
At the other end, Villa’s first real foray forwards came around 20 minutes in. Ollie Watkins’ low drive was parried by Jorgensen, before the Villa striker saw an effort well-blocked by Marc Cucurella.
Fernandez bent another effort over the bar and Cole Palmer saw a strike deflected agonisingly wide, but there were to be no more goals before the referee brought an end to a thoroughly entertaining first half.
Ten minutes after the restart, Villa tied things up. Marcus Rashford squared for Asensio to bundle home on the line, and although the goal was initially ruled out for offside, a VAR check soon confirmed it should stand.
Palmer looked destined to score when he went charging through on goal in the 75th minute. He sat Emiliano Martinez down but then lost footing himself, giving Ezri Konsa enough time to get back and clear the shot.
With 90 minutes on the clock, Villa got their lead. Rashford and Asensio combined once again as the latter’s effort somehow found its way through Jorgensen’s hands and trickled agonisingly over the line to hand Villa all three points.
Check out the player ratings from Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea here.
When the team sheet was released, the presence of three full-backs and two centre-backs hinted at a major change in system. In truth, there wasn’t much different about the way Chelsea set up for this game, but the style in which they approached it was vastly different.
Reece James lined up alongside Moises Caicedo in midfield, while Enzo Fernandez and Pedro Neto almost dovetailed as false nines as Christopher Nkunku took his place on the left wing. With Malo Gusto charging down the right wing and Cole Palmer given the freedom to roam wherever he wanted, there was a lot of fluidity about the Blues before their second-half collapse.
Neto’s willingness to run in behind ultimately set up the opening goal for Fernandez, who was involved in nearly everything good about Chelsea. While things were far from perfect – they rarely are with this iteration of Chelsea – there was enough to be intrigued about.
It took Rashford just ten minutes to make a positive impact after coming off the bench, combining with fellow loanee Asensio to tie things up.
His introduction provided a spark to Villa’s attack which was not always present in the first half as Rashford occupied Malo Gusto and stopped Chelsea’s marauding full-back from getting forwards. He took plenty of opportunities to get at the Frenchman and usually came out on top.
The two Villa loanees combined for the winner, with Rashford’s quick-thinking allowing Asensio to catch Jorgensen out and seal the three points.
Tyrone Mings’ run in the starting lineup was brought to an abrupt end on the hour mark here after a knee injury which had been plaguing him for the previous 15 minutes ultimately took its toll. With Axel Disasi unavailable to face his parent side, Villa turned to Lamare Bogarde off the bench.
Mings’ tricky injury history will immediately spark fears of an extended lay-off which, when added to the existing absences of Pau Torres, Kourtney Hause and the versatile Boubacar Kamara, leaves Unai Emery with a real headache at the back.
Disasi will be available again next week and he may have to play every minute alongside Ezri Konsa until some cover becomes available again. Not ideal at such a hectic stage in the season.
Robert Sanchez was dropped to the bench after making a series of errors, with Chelsea fans celebrating the recent sight of Jorgensen in between the posts.
Unfortunately, the summer signing was guilty of his own mistake here, and what a costly one it was. With 90 minutes on the clock, he failed to keep hold of Asensio’s fizzing effort, which ultimately left Chelsea on the losing end.
There are far more problems in this Chelsea side than just the goalkeeper, but the ongoing inability to rely on a safe pair of hands at the back continues to burn the Blues.
