Chelsea vs Aston Villa LIVE: Premier League result and reaction after Cole Palmer stunner seals victory
Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa: Enzo Maresca’s side climbed to third in the Premier League with a strong home victory
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Your support makes all the difference.Chelsea climbed to third in the Premier League as Aston Villa’s winless run continued at Stamford Bridge in a 3-0 defeat.
A goal inside five minutes from Nicolas Jackson set the hosts on course before Enzo Fernandez added a second before half time, the Chelsea captain connecting sweetly with a bouncing ball on the half volley. Victory was sealed late on by a stunning curled finish from Cole Palmer, lifting Enzo Maresca’s side to third and level on points with Arsenal as the two London clubs keep up the chase on leaders Liverpool.
It was another difficult outing for Unai Emery’s Villa, who are struggling to handle a busy season after a breakthrough qualification for the Champions League. It’s now eight games without a win for the club in all competitions, leaving them languishing in the bottom half of the table.
Re-live all of the action from Stamford Bridge in our live blog below:
Chelsea impress again with convincing win as Aston Villa struggles continue
Chelsea continued to impress under head coach Enzo Maresca as Aston Villa were beaten comprehensively 3-0 at Stamford Bridge, extending the visitors’ winless streak to eight games.
Maresca saw his side score from two finely worked moves in the first half then from a Cole Palmer special late on, turning in a statement performance that showcased the rapid improvements that have been made since the Italian took charge.
Nicolas Jackson got the opening goal, profiting from ceaseless work from Marc Cucurella who won the ball in midfield and then streaked into the box to cross, before Enzo Fernandez finished off a wonderful move for his second goal in as many games.
Chelsea impress again with convincing win as Aston Villa struggles continue
Nicolas Jackson, Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer scored for Chelsea as Villa’s winless run stretched to eight matches.
McGinn: “We’re in a tough moment"
John McGinn says that Villa “went behind from a goal that will be painful for us to watch back”.
“We didn’t capitalise on our chances to equalise.
“We’re in a tough moment as a group so it’s important for us to stick together, don’t let what we have built break, take the responsibility, take the criticism that will probably come our way and look to Wednesday.”
“We’ve still got an opportunity to do something really special this season. We have a game on Wednesday and then on Saturday so we have to turn it around quickly.”
On whether being in the Champions League is affecting their form, he added: “I’m not sure it can be an excuse because we had a more difficult turnaround last season.
“The Conference League games, Thursday to Sunday are much more difficult to recover from. It’s an easy excuse but not one we want to use.
“We know we are good enough to compete and get results like this. We need to get back to the levels we have reached over the last few seasons.”
Maresca: “Top performance on and off the ball"
Chelsea manager Maresca says that “the performance was very good” today.
“Top performance on and off the ball and very happy with the three points.”
On Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson: “They are attacking players, they need to be in the box when we are attacking. We saw today that they scored in both games. Enzo was in the right position so we just need to continue.”
On goalkeeper Robert Sanchez’s: “We don’t have any doubt, it is more outside noise about him. But we are very happy because he is helping us saving goals and helping in the build up.”
On Wesley Fofana’s injury: “It’s a muscular problem, looks like a hamstring, we’ll see.”
Emery: “We can do better indivdually"
Unai Emery also spoke to Sky after full-time.
“The analysis is not only for this match. We arrived here two years ago and progressively we were always getting better. This match is a good test for us to see where we are with teams like Chelsea, Liverpool a few weeks ago.
“At the beginning of the season we can sense some teams were better than us and one of them is Chelsea. Try to keep balance, not be frustrated. We are going to try again to recover our confidence on Wednesday against Brentford.
“We believe completely in our work. We are enjoying the Champions League and in the league we are more or less under where we were.
“Our challenge is to fight on Wednesday with Brentford and see how our level is with Brentford.
“There are still matches to play and we are going to recover our confidence, trying to build the team. We have to try to be better than we are being now. We can individually do better.”
Palmer: “We’re just trying to keep going and win plenty of games"
Cole Palmer spoke to Sky Sports after the match, and he said that “Aston Villa are a good team, so to win and go higher up the table is good.”
“I think if I go out and enjoy my football, the goals and assists will come. It’s all down to the manager, the desire that he puts into the sessions and what the players give to him.
“If we keep winning, I’m sure we’ll be near the top four. We’re just trying to keep going and win plenty of games,” he added.
FULL-TIME! Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa
With that win, Chelsea move to third in the table, level on points and goal difference with Arsenal. In fact, with the two sides having drawn a few weeks ago, Chelsea are third on alphabetical order alone!
Villa fall to 12th, on 19 points.
FULL-TIME! Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa
FULL-TIME! Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa
The referee blows the final whistle and Chelsea have their seventh win of the season, courtesy of three great goals.
Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa
94 mins
Easy enough for the home side, who are just knocking it around waiting for full-time. Nkunku goes close with an effort from range, but it flies wide.
The commentary team on Sky claim that the early news says that Fofana’s injury is hamstring-related.
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