A battling Villa were eventually beaten by a second half, Lukaku inspired Chelsea.
Villa missing Young and McGinn fielded a strong starting 11 despite the Covid problems in the Premier League. We took the lead when a Targett cross was deflected into his net by Reece James, unfortunately, the lead didn’t last long when Matty Cash gave away a nailed-on penalty just after, which was dispatched by Jorginho. Overall we gave a decent account of ourselves in the first half.
The turning point of the game happened in the changing room at halftime when Lukaku came on to replace Chalobah. We started on the back foot and never got to grips with the 100m pound man, he bullied our back four and when a cross was whipped into the box he was much sharper than Mings and headed Chelsea ahead. We huffed and puffed but never looked like getting level, and were eventually undone when they hit us on the break and Lukaku was bought down for Chelsea’s third to finish the game.
Let’s see how the fans rated our boys in Claret and Blue! Today we are joined by Gary, Hannah, Ellis, Liam and Justin
STARTING LINE-UP
Formation 4-3-3
Emi Martinez – 5
3 goals were conceded including two penalties. Felt he was slightly rash in a couple of decisions when running out of his area, and didn’t seem to make his usual good ‘Keeper!’ calls. Did make one excellent save, however. Hannah Gowen
Matty Cash – 5
had a bright game up until giving away the penalty for Chelsea’s first, but from there it seemed to go downhill. Got on the ball and drove forward often throughout the first half an hour or so, but after a sloppy, mistimed challenge on Callum Hudson-Odoi, Villa’s number 2 was certainly to blame for the equaliser. The second-half performance got increasingly worse for the Polish full-back who time and time again gave the ball away and was sloppy in possession. A day to forget for Matty Cash. Liam Davies
Ezri Konsa – 6
Had a decent first half, but after the break struggled to cope with the Lukaku threat and gave away the penalty for the killer third. Will learn from this game and is never one to go missing when things get tough. Justin Hawthorne
Tyrone Mings – 4
I sometimes disagree with how Mings get slated and after the first half, I disagreed again! Superb first 45 winning everything that came his way.
Unfortunately for Mings, there are 2 halves in a game and his second-half performance was nothing short of embarrassing. Lukaku bullied him and showed him to be average at best.
He gave him a free header for the goal when deciding it was better to try and shield the ball blind! Then further examples of not attacking the ball and letting it bounce!
I honestly believe performances like this is why we want a new LB and CB. Looking forward to the possibility of Hause and Konsa vs Brentford. Gary Plaza
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Matt Targett – 6
saw plenty of the ball down the left and put in several crosses with one leading to the opening goal of the game, which saw Reece James direct the ball past his own ‘keeper to give the home side the lead. Villa’s number 3 looked solid defensively too, containing the threatening Reece James and Mason Mount for large parts of the game, but struggled to fend off Lukaku for Chelsea’s third and the majority of his crosses were too weak and lacked conviction. A mixed night for the 26-year-old. Liam Davies
Morgan Sanson – 6
I wasn’t completely impressed with Sanson today but I think a lot of that is down to me comparing him to McGinn. Some of his passing especially in the second half was very good but for me, his hesitation to help the team let him down. Consistently in the first half, Matty Cash was left on his own to deal with two Chelsea players whilst Sanson didn’t pick up either of them and it lead to the first penalty. There is signs of a good player in there but I found myself frustrated by him today. Ellis Burnett
Douglas Luiz – 5
Painfully average from Luiz today as he failed to produce anything of note. His passing was good at times but ultimately ended up coming to nothing. A disappointing performance from someone who is in a slight sip of form compared to other performances which are something he needs to fix in the absence of Nakamba for the foreseeable. Ellis Burnett
Jacob Ramsey – 6
Seemed to be given more of a forward role in the absence of McGinn and as always he doesn’t disappoint. Always looking to drive forwards and get us up the pitch.
Looks to have developed a great understanding with both Targett and Luiz.
Poor second half and largely missing for large periods. Still one of the better performers overall. Gary Plaza
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Emi Buendia – 5
Unlucky with a couple of attempted through balls for Ings. Continued to show great link-up play but more importantly, he pressed continuously without the ball. Gerrard has already started the defend from the attack and it showed the first half. Gary Plaza
Danny Ings – 6
it wasn’t an awful performance from Ings today but it also wasn’t anything to write home about. I think that he struggled to work with Watkins and didn’t get many services from the players around him. A positive sign was that he was making runs but it just wasn’t Ings day this time round. Ellis Burnett
Ollie Watkins – 6
In the first half, Watkins won everything and got behind Chelsea’s defence continuously. Tracked back when needed as well. The second half was much more absent and didn’t register a shot on target in the 90 minutes. The work rate was there, but nothing to show for it. Hannah Gowen
Substitutions
Bertrand Traore (on for Ings, 73 minutes) 6
Nice to see him back Justin Hawthorne
Carney Chukwuemeka (on for Buendia, 73 minutes) 6
Another run out for the academy graduate Justin Hawthorne
Anwar El Ghazi (on for Sanson, 76 minutes) 5
Little impact Justin Hawthorne
Goals
Aston Villa: Reece James own-goal (28)
Chelsea: Jorginho penalty (34, 90+3), Lukaku (56
Opposition
Chelsea, 5-2-3: Mendy; James, Chalobah (Lukaku, 46), Silva (Christensen, 52), Rudiger, Alonso; Kante (Kovacic, 63), Jorginho; Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Pulisic.
Subs not used: Kepa, Saul Niguez, Barkley, Ziyech, Azpilicueta, Sarr.
THE BOSS
UP NEXT
Brentford | Brentford community stadium| Sunday 2nd January 2022 | 14.00
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