Chelsea edged past Aston Villa in an unconvincing 2-0 victory at Villa Park in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
An early goal for the visitors looked likely to set the pattern of the game, but it was a false dawn, with the outstanding heroics of an inspired Kepa Arrizabalaga and a determined Mason Mount sparing the Blues’ blushes.
The Pensioners got off to a flyer, with Mount punishing a horrendous Tyrone Mings mistake with aplomb just six minutes in. Yet the Villains responded strongly, with the aforementioned Chelsea goalkeeper springing into action and making a string of unbelievable saves to keep his side ahead.
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Blues’ head coach Graham Potter will have been befuddled at the break, having seen his men seize the advantage early but then conspiring to let Villa, who have been lacklustre thus far this season, run riot all over them.
Chelsea rang the changes for the second-half but little changed in respect of the flow of the game, with the hosts continuing to threaten. But Mount proved the man of the moment again, striking a wicked free-kick from long distance to leave Emiliano Martinez rooted in the 65th minute.
The final scoreline is in truth somewhat of a false reflection of the match, with much improvement needed before a visit to Thomas Frank’s Brentford on Wednesday. In the meantime, here is how Absolute Chelsea rated today’s performance.
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Here is how Absolute Chelsea rated the players' performance against Aston Villa.
Kepa Arrizabalaga - 10/10
The definition of a brick wall in between the sticks. A trio of saves in quick succession midway through the first period in particular was a pure demonstration of out of this world goalkeeping, and a world-class stop from a Danny Ings bullet header wasn’t bad either. Equal to every aerial assault on his goal. On this form, Edouard Mendy has got his work cut out in displacing the Spaniard as Graham Potter’s man with the gloves.
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Trevoh Chalobah - 7/10
Enjoyed a hearty and full-blooded clash with the spirited Ollie Watkins, with both men having their moments. In the final analysis, ‘Trev’ probably won out in a split decision, adding another good performance to his repertoire, another notch in his belt, and yet another win to his unbeaten streak as a Chelsea starter.
Thiago Silva - 7/10
Save for a rare mistake in the first-half to allow the tenacious Scot John McGinn a sight of goal, this was pretty standard fare as far as the Brazilian is considered. Swept up with a minimum of fuss and kept it tidy in possession.
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Marc Cucurella - 3/10 [45]
This was a bit of a horror show from the former Brighton man all told. Failed to inspire confidence in defence, with erratic positioning and decision making often leaving his peers exposed. The hosts had a lot of joy driving at the Spaniard, who will know himself that this was an extremely disappointing showing not befitting of a player of his mooted calibre. Mercifully hooked at the interval.
Ben Chilwell - 6/10
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This afternoon proved a real test of mettle for the Englishman after his long-term injury. Leon Bailey is a tricky proposition for most defenders on any given afternoon as it is, but when you are effectively left to handle him on your lonesome with Marc Cucurella more a headache than help, then that task is amplified. For what it is worth, he dealt with it fairly well, and he looks to be gaining a bit more pace and spring in his step going forward too.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek - 6/10
A perfectly competent showing from the lad from Lewisham, without ever threatening to set the world alight. The midfield battle gave him plenty of scope to show off his strength and surging runs, although he did not conjure up anything decisive on this occasion.
Mateo Kovacic - 6/10 [65]
Slowly but surely getting back to full speed. There was more evidence this afternoon of his fleet-footed press resistance and his range of passing was good, although as the senior member of the midfield pivot he did not exert the same control upon the match as a Jorginho normally would - and that’s perhaps why the Italian was introduced in place of the Croatian as Graham Potter looked to shore up the win.
Mason Mount - 9/10
Made a near immediate impact on proceedings with his well-taken opener, which was no certainty dropping from a great height. Some really neat and calm play helped the Blues out of some periods of intense pressure. Head and shoulders above his colleagues in the offensive unit - some going for someone who was an injury doubt this week.
Raheem Sterling - 6/10 [89]
Interestingly deployed in a wing-back role following the news that Chelsea will be without key man Reece James for two months, and it was evident pretty quickly that it shackled all his strengths. Once Graham Potter tweaked the structure of his side and let Sterling loose further forward, he hit the bar within minutes and was unlucky to see a header glance wide thereafter. Few moments of wastefulness shows that he is a square peg not quite fitting into the round hole at the moment.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 5/10 [58]
Plenty of industry but the former Arsenal striker was reduced to effectively a passenger, given most activity happened closer to Chelsea’s goalmouth rather than the opponents’ one where he resides. Little service and therefore little impact - there will be better days ahead.
Kai Havertz - 5/10 [45]
A few flashes of quality here and there, but in the main this was a pretty languid and non-descript display from ‘the silky German’. Rarely factored into forays forward. When he did, it was altogether too pedestrian on too many occasions. With that said, perhaps unfortunate to be sacrificed at half-time.
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Kalidou Koulibaly - 6/10 [45]
An altogether unsurprising introduction at half-time given Chelsea’s defensive travails. The Senegalese giant brought some solidity and reinforcement to the backline, although he didn’t quite solve the disconnect between the centre-backs and wing-backs which allowed the hosts some joy in the pockets.
César Azpilicueta - 7/10 [45]
Made a very good contribution at the back, showing some excellent defensive awareness and cutting off danger at its root on the right flank.
Conor Gallagher - 7/10 [58]
His energy, drive and impetus was exactly what Chelsea had been lacking from the off. Acquitted himself well in both a defensive and offensive aspect.
Jorginho - 6/10 [65]
Introduced at the perfect time, bringing some much-needed composure and control to the engine room and breaking the press with his laser-like passing pretty efficiently.
Armando Broja - N/A [89]
Topics: Chelsea, Aston Villa, Premier League, Football
Joel Middleton