Chelsea v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Dave]

We don’t want to get carried away, but one has to ask if what Aston Villa are doing is in fact some kind of dark magic, threatening the very fabric of existence and putting the entire universe at risk.

This 2-1 victory at Chelsea was Villa’s sixth win from behind this season. Nobody else has more than three. Six wins is as many of any kind as Newcastle or Spurs have fashioned all season. Villa’s points per game for the whole season is 2.17; that drops only as far as 2.00 for games where they fall behind. These are already absurd numbers

But remember, Villa didn’t register their first win until game six of the season. So the run is actually six wins from behind in their last 13 Premier League games. And you can make those numbers more ridiculous still, if you absolutely must: this is the fifth win from behind in their last six Premier League away games.

We therefore choose our next words very carefully, acknowledging this is a team that has won 4-3 at Brighton from 2-0 down and 3-2 at West Ham having trailed both 1-0 and 2-1 in the first half: this is the most absurd victory yet for Unai Emery’s title-race-bothering upstarts.

It is impossible to overstate just how one-sided the first half of this game was. Chelsea’s control was entire and absolute, leaving only two mysteries.

The first, more prosaic, mystery: how the only goal they had to show for it came off Joao Pedro’s backside as Emi Martinez decided to fight everyone rather than deal with a Reece James corner.

The second mystery? How on earth were Villa going to end up winning 2-1, as they surely would, after a first half like that? We would eventually get the solution to that one, at least.

Chelsea swarmed all over the visitors from the first whistle. Cole Palmer and Pedro Neto were proving near impossible to contain and even Alejandro Garnacho was having moments.

Villa, for their part, were offering less than nothing. Their first-half performance here really was as bad as we’ve seen from anyone, anywhere this season. Sure, Villa have spent the last few months gleefully confounding xG, but they went in to the half-time break here lucky to have 0.00 in their column while allowing 1.96 at the other end. To be fair, backside efforts from six inches out will presumably score highly with the boffins.

Villa have proved repeatedly that xG can go whistle as far as they’re concerned, but even their number-baiting doesn’t generally extend to the almost total numerical void that was their first half here: having no shots at all, only a few touches in the opposition box and, perhaps most damningly of all, only four completed passes in the entire attacking third of the pitch.

This was a side that looked like it was finally going to blink in the face of once again trying to keep up with the relentless winning pace being set by their two more seasoned campaigners in what is now without doubt a three-horse title race.

We should never have doubted them.

The game spun around entirely on a trio of Aston Villa substitutions just before the hour mark. Off went the ineffective Emi Buendia, the invisible Donyell Malen and John McGinn, who struggled with the pace of the game throughout but who made one vital contribution just before being withdrawn when sliding in to concede a corner and deny Garnacho a tap-in from Palmer’s low cross.

On came Ollie Watkins, who would score both goals, Amadou Onana and Jadon Sancho. The speed and totality of the turnaround was enough to make your head spin.

In the 10 minutes that followed, Villa not only pulled level through a – if we’re being honest – rather fortunate ricochet off Robert Sanchez’s initial save, but had five further attempts on goal, all of them forcing Sanchez into saves, while enjoying 78 per cent possession and more touches in the Chelsea box than they’d managed in the entire first half.

Yes, there was some good fortune about the goal. But the point is that Villa had already earned such fortune by buying themselves a lottery ticket. Watkins’ goal was not even the first clear chance he had in his first few minutes on the pitch.

And his header for a winner that had long attained a sense of inevitability was sure and true. Victory extends Villa’s current Premier League winning run to eight matches. It’s the longest winning run any team in the league has managed throughout 2025, a stat which is to our mind only improved by remembering the second longest winning run belongs to Wolves.

The sheer faith Villa retained in their proven ability to get out of any situation at any time on any ground will surely never have a sterner test than this. The first half was utterly miserable; the second entirely majestic.

They are a baffling team now achieving astonishing things and they don’t look like they’re remotely finished f*cking with everybody, either. Their trip to Arsenal to round out 2025 already looks like it could have vast repercussions for what 2026 looks like. You would rule absolutely nothing out at this stage.

As for Chelsea, they must just feel punch-drunk. The speed with which their full control of this game was whipped out from under them was dizzying and confusing.

It is neither a novel nor particularly interesting point to note that they really could do with a handful of older, more experienced players to help prevent this kind of incident. Chelsea blowing a winning position isn’t quite as frequent a sight as Villa exploiting a losing one, but nobody has now dropped more points this season when leading than Enzo Maresca’s callow side.

What was a few weeks ago a title fight is now a Champions League scrap with Liverpool and whoever else can hold themselves together for long enough. Heaven help us, that might even now be Man United.

But for Villa the opposite. The undignified squabbling over mere qualification for the Big Cup is beneath them now. Ten points beneath them.

They still trail two formidable opponents, but if there’s one thing clear about this Villa team it’s that this is not something they will allow to concern them.

[MalcolmP]

Sanchez handball twice outside the box should be 2 yellow cards and a red. Enzo and Cucurella both lucky to escape without 2 yellows each. Cash gets yellow 1 foul, Enzo 4 fouls and only gets yellow for dissent, Cucurella f all. And ref "coincidentally " booked our 2 players who were both on 4 yellows so now miss Arsenal game.They really try hard to stop us get top 4 don't they.

[Clampy]

Oh and that booking for Rogers was absolutely ridiculous. Its as if the ref totally ignored Reece James and was just watching Morgan. Abysmal.

[cdbearsfan]

Oh and that booking for Rogers was absolutely ridiculous. Its as if the ref totally ignored Reece James and was just watching Morgan. Abysmal.

He booked them both.

[manic-road]

I can confidently watch the Villa be second best for the first half and think that we will win. We have often created little in the first half and expended the minimum of energy then on 60 minutes Unai makes changes and we dominate.
 
Watkins was exceptional today, also Onana did a great job, in Unai we have an exceptional coach.

[eamonn]

I don't know what this is, but I love it.

To quote an old live music review of a bunch of dandies - "Like forcibly being plugged into an orgasmatron".

[eamonn]

Five straight wins away from home having to come from behind. Do better Villa.

Is this a world record?

[eamonn]

At in laws and sneaked a watch of the first half on a wholly legal stream on the internet.  A game of 2 halves then!!!!!? Get in!

Why bother? We're a second half tram.

[eamonn]

The mad thing for me is even when we go behind I just have this feeling we can come back - this has to be the best performing team in my 50+ years.

No, it was '80/'81.

[PeterWithesShin]

At in laws and sneaked a watch of the first half on a wholly legal stream on the internet.  A game of 2 halves then!!!!!? Get in!

Why bother? We're a second half tram.

On track to win the league

[Percy McCarthy]

Side note; was Sanchez even booked for handling it outside of the area?

Looked like his second time to me. They nearly scored from his first offence. Not 100% sure, but it was close and of course they didn’t show a replay.

[PeterWithesShin]

"Go and fuck them up"

[Somniloquism]

I wonder what the record is for having individual players score two goals in consecutive games?

[Nev]

Sanchez handball twice outside the box should be 2 yellow cards and a red. Enzo and Cucurella both lucky to escape without 2 yellows each. Cash gets yellow 1 foul, Enzo 4 fouls and only gets yellow for dissent, Cucurella f all. And ref "coincidentally " booked our 2 players who were both on 4 yellows so now miss Arsenal game.They really try hard to stop us get top 4 don't they.

I was screaming about Sanchez first time and no one mentioned it. But then Smith did when he transgressed the second time. What a fucking wanker.

[eamonn]

All that conserving energy in the first half played dividends as Chelsea ran themselves out

Then give them a sound thrashing in the second half
easy

Like Paul on the Road to Damascus!

Think he's from Winchester.