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LIVE MATCH |
Chelsea dominated the match from minute one, but Aston Villa scored first through Kortney Hause in the 43rd minute.
The away side went into half-time trailing 0-1 but came back stronger during the final 45 minutes. Goals from Christian Pulisic and Olivier Giroud put Chelsea ahead.
MATCH REPORT |
Eventually, Frank Lampard's team won the game and strengthened its hold of the fourth spot in the standings. Meanwhile, Aston Villa stays 19th, with eight matches to go this season.
AND IT'S FULL-TIME!!!
90+5' FREE-KICK FOR ASTON VILLA!!! This should be the last play of the game. Kante had tripped an onrushing Grealish from behind. Rudiger and the Villa captain get into an argument. Their teammates separate them. Trezeguet will take the set-piece and it's straight at Kepa.
90' Five minutes of stoppage time to be added on at the end of the second half! Aston Villa is clearly troubling Chelsea now. Lampard looks a worried man with his side just moments away from the finish line.
87' WHAT A CHANCE! Spaniard Jota had just replaced John McGinn on the field and he almost scored there. It was a Villa free-kick and Douglas Luiz took it. The ball fell into the box, Christensen was the closest defender and he should have made a straightforward clearance. But he makes a mess of it, Jota tries to capitalise and misses the target with his left by a whisker.
85' A STRING OF CORNERS IN SUCCESSION FOR CHELSEA! The last one was its 10th of the game. Willian will take the set-piece. But Ezri Konsa makes a pretty easy clearance. Chelsea has been poor during corners this evening.
80' CHELSEA CHANGE! Tammy Abraham finally come on. He replaces the man who scored Chelsea's second goal on the evening - Olivier Giroud. Lampard had a long chat with Tammy, moments ago.
78' CHANCE! Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn receives a good cross inside the box from Trezeguet, but Christensen rushes to intercept the ball.
75' Chelsea has 77% overall possession now. The away side has been on the front foot right from the beginning. The Hause goal was a setback but Lampard's men have made a strong comeback in the second half.
70' SUBSTITUTIONS! Two changes by Villa manager Dean Smith. Conor Hourihane and Anwar El-Ghazi make way for Marvelous Nakamba and Trezeguet in the middle.
68' FREE-KICK FOR ASTON VILLA! Conor Hourihane takes the resulting set-piece from a Chelsea foul. The goal-scorer Hause is at the end of the corner. But he puts a little too much on his header as the ball sails over the post. Cooling break!
63' ANOTHER GOALLLLLL!!!! ANOTHER AZPILICUETA ASSIST!! GIROUD WITH THE GOAL! This was a team move. Mason Mount received the ball in midfield and after a one-two with Pulisic, he finds Azpilicueta on the left wing this time. The Chelsea skipper's pass falls to Giroud who takes a touch turns to evade a defender and puts his side in the lead.
61' GOALLLLLLLLL!!!! ASTON VILLA 1 - 1 CHELSEA!! PULISIC SCORES! It's his first goal since November. The move started at one wing and ended at the other. Cesar Azpilicueta received the ball on the right flank and found Pulisic at the far post with a delightful cross. The American midfielder came up with a delicate finish to equalise the score.
57' ASTON VILLA CHANGE! Head coach Dean Smith Mbwana Samata for Keinan Davis. It's a like-for-like replacement. Former Chelsea player and current Aston Villa assistant manager looks on.
55' SUBSTITUTIONS! Chelsea manager Lampard makes the first changes of the evening. Christian Pulisic and Ross Barkley replace Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek respectively in the middle.
54' CHANCE! Another one for Chelsea!!! Kante with a ball toward Giroud at the centre but the Frenchman's header goes off target.
51' Chelsea with several moves up front in the second half. But none have materialised so far. This is much like the first half. The finishing has been poor and the end product is not what Frank Lampard would expect from his side.
47' CORNER FOR CHELSEA! Cesar Azpilicueta with a great run on the right. The Chelsea defender puts in a decent cross. Mings heads it away. Willian takes the corner but it was a poor one.
AND THE SECOND-HALF IS UNDERWAY!
Chelsea clearly dominated the first 45 minutes. The team had a 75% possession for most of the match. But Aston Villa's Kortney Hause scored against the run of play.
Mason Mount was the best player on the pitch in the first half and his Chelsea side have had several chances so far. They need to convert those in the final 45 minutes to convert this into a win.
Hause scored Villa's first goal in four Premier League games. As things stand, the home team can move out of the relegation zone with a win here. Forty-five minutes to go. Stay tuned!
AND IT'S HALF-TIME!
45+3' CLOSE! It was a Chelsea corner. Willian took it. Aston Villa defender Hause was the first to the ball with his head. Kovacic collected the ball just outside the box and let one fly. He missed the target by a whisker.
45' Three minutes of stoppage time to be added on at the end of the first half! The audio of the Aston Villa fan chants sound so real. That might be helping the home side's players. Meanwhile, its raining very heavily.
43' GOAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!!! ASTON VILLA 1 - 0 CHELSEA!!!! KORTNEY HAUSE SCORES!! Jack Grealish held on to the ball at the right flank for quite some time. He then found Douglas Luiz who put in a brilliant cross. El-Ghazi was at the end of it but his shot was blocked by Kepa. however, the rebound fell to Hause who found the back of the net with a calm and composed finish.
39' VERY CLOSE!!!!! MASON MOUNT HAS BEEN PHENOMENAL SO FAR! But Chelsea doesn't have a goal to show. Mount came up with a brilliant pacy move on the right wing. He evaded several Aston Villa players to send a pass into the box. But Loftus-Cheek couldn't reach the ball on time.
34' WHAT A CHANCE! VILLA'S BEST CHANCE SO FAR!!! El-Ghazi with an inch-perfect cross towards the middle. John McGinn was the first to it. But his header was a poor one as it goes past Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. He should have at least hit the target there.
32' SHOT ON TARGET! VILLA COMES CLOSE TO SCORING! Tyrone Mings with a long ball towards Keinan Davis who heads the ball towards Anwar El-Ghazi. The Dutch striker executes a powerful shot towards the post. But Kepa makes the crucial save.
29' ANOTHER GOOD CHANCE FOR CHELSEA!! Willian with a wonderful cross into the box but Ruben Loftus-Cheek, the closest player to the ball, was unable to get to it. Olivier Giroud was close too.
25' An attempted cross from Marcos Alonso is cleared. The ball falls to Ruben Loftus-Cheek whose through-ball attempt doesn't quite work out. And now it's time for the cooling break!
21' VERY GOOD CHANCE! A good pass from Chelsea's N'Golo Kante finds Mason Mount at the edge of the box, and he smashes the ball towards goal. But Aston Villa keeper Orjan Nyland pulls off a brilliant save to keep the match goalless.
17' CORNER FOR VILLA! Jack Grealish takes a short one. A cross is sent into the box but Chelsea defenders clear it away. Keinan Davis receives the ball and lets one fly from long, however, Rudiger puts his body on the line to avert the danger.
13' FREE-KICK FOR ASTON VILLA! Mason Mount pulls back Hourihane to concede a set-piece. Villa takes it quick as Anwar El-Ghazi makes a move forward. But close to the corner flag he fouls Mateo Kovacic to give back possession to Chelsea.
9' CLOSE! Kovacic with a long ball towards the box from midfield. Chelsea left-back Marcos Alonso outruns Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa to the ball. However, his header is just wide of an onrushing Giroud in the middle.
6' Chelsea has started this game in a positive manner. Olivier Giroud attempts to find Cesar Azpilicueta inside the box with an one-touch pass, but hits it long for a goalkick.
3' CHANCE! Chelsea forward Willian sprints forward with the ball from midfield. He passes the ball wide to Mateo Kovacic at the edge of the penalty box. But Kovacic's low cross into the middle is cleared away by Aston Villa defender Matt Targett.
AND THE MATCH BEGINS!
Chelsea is placed fourth in the points table having garnered 48 points, while Aston Villa stands 19th in the standings with 26 points.
The players are out!
08:30 PM IST: We are 15 minutes away from kick-off. This is Chelsea's first game since 'Project Restart' began. Aston Villa had played out a goalless draw against Sheffield United on Wednesday.
The team line-ups are out!
CHELSEA XI: Kepa Arrizabalaga (G), Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, Marcos Alonso, Cesar Azpilicueta (C), Ruben Loftus-Cheek, N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Willian, Mason Mount, Olivier Giroud.
COACH: Frank Lampard.
ASTON VILLA XI: Orjan Nyland (G), Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Matt Targett, Kortney Hause, John Mcginn, Douglas Luiz, Conor Hourihane, Jack Grealish (C), Keinan Davis, Anwar El-Ghazi.
COACH: Dean Smith.
MATCH PREVIEW:
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard says he is excited about the club’s signing of striker Timo Werner from RB Leipzig but his immediate focus is sealing a top-four finish in the Premier League.
“He is clearly a player we’ve liked,” Lampard told reporters in a virtual news conference ahead of Sunday’s clash with struggling Aston Villa — Chelsea’s first game back after the three-month Premier League shutdown.
Werner moved to Leipzig in 2016 from Stuttgart and has since scored 93 goals and grabbed 40 assists for the team. His move to Chelsea is a major coup for the London club.
WATCH |
ALSO READ | Lampard 'excited' by Werner arrival at Chelsea
Young striker Tammy Abraham has been a revelation for Chelsea this season and Lampard said Werner’s arrival will increase the competition for places.
“Tammy has had a very good season for us this season and has to sustain and improve on that because at Chelsea we have demands,” he said. “I am happy to have options.”
Chelsea is in fourth spot as it enters its last nine games of the season but Lampard knows his side must hit the ground running to cement its place in the Champions League.
“We’ll have to go full throttle,” he said. “There’s a lot of work to be done. Lots of competition for the top four but we are in that battle and we are very honest about it. We have to be at our best to make sure we amass enough points.”
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