Chelsea Drop Into Premier League’s Bottom Half With Aston Villa Defeat

Aston Villa stunned Chelsea 2-0 on Saturday, as the London side dropped points at home for the second match in a row as they prepare to face Real Madrid in the Champions League in under two weeks’ time.

After drawing with relegation-battling Everton before the international break, Graham Potter wanted his Chelsea team to bounce back but they did quite the opposite.

He made three changes to the Blues’ line-up, with Marc Cucurella and Ruben Loftus-Cheek coming in to form a back three which was put under immense pressure.

Chelsea’s poor start

From the off, Aston Villa looked to have the better chances as John McGinn rattled the crossbar with a shot from the edge of the box.

Moments later, Kalidou Koulibaly and Cucurella were involved in a mix-up which allowed Ollie Watkins to steam through and beat Kepa in a one-on-one.

With only 18 minutes gone, Chelsea were behind and needed to react, with Joao Felix forcing a save from Emilio Martinez a few minutes after going behind.

McGinn scores with a rocket

Chelsea were on top for much of the first half after the goal, with Argentina goalkeeper Martinez in fine form between the posts for Aston Villa.

It didn’t count for much, though, as only 11 minutes into the second half McGinn sent a powerful effort into the bottom corner to make it 2-0.

It was a goal that came against the run of play, but Chelsea failed to score in a home game for the fourth time in 2023.

Emery takes Aston Villa to ninth

The result means that Aston Villa leapfrog Chelsea in the table, sending Potter’s team into the bottom half as they drop to 11th with 38 points from 28 games.

For the Villans, it means that Emery’s revival of the team continues, with the Spanish coach taking Aston Villa to ninth by extending their unbeaten run to five matches.