Youri Tielemans on Marcus Rashford: “We’re very pleased, especially the way he is performing now and with the two assists today,” he tells Sky Sports. “Marcus is someone who can threaten everyone one versus one and even one versus two. He is very important for us in the way he plays because he gives us something different on the left-hand side. You could tell today every time he got the ball he was dangerous and hopefully with many more minutes in his legs he will only get better.”
Match report: Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea
Premier League: Villa were weary and discombobulated for much of the first half but a brace from Marco Asensio, aided and abetted by Marcus Rashford and an unwitting contribution from Chelsea goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen ensured they came from behind to win all three points. Ben Fisher reports from Villa Park …
Marco Asensio: “I’m so happy,” says the scorer of both Villa goals in an interview with Sky Sports. “It’s a great night and I want to thank all the fans for the effort we do together. To continue, the team is in the right way and I’m very happy for the first goals and for the win.
“We know that today was an important day. We had to win and we did so, yeah, very happy. We have to continue because on Tuesday we have another match [against Crystal Palace, away]. The mentality we have to have is to win every match.”
On Marcus Rashford: “We know all the quality of Marcus, he helps us a lot. We are so happy and thank you also to Marcus for the two assists.”
What this means: Villa move up to to seventh place, just a point behind Chelsea and Bourneouth, who both have 43. With fifth place in the Premier League likely to be good enough to earn a spot in the Champions League, only five points separate Manchester City in fourth place and Fulham in 10th. Oof!
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Full time: Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeep! It’s all over at Villa Park, where Chelsea have dropped points from a winning position once again, allowing Villa to come from behind and win courtesy of Marco Asensio’s first two goals for the club. While the Spaniard was the hero, there’s a strong case to be made for Marcus Rashford getting the man of the match award. His introduction at half-time played no small part in transforming Villa’s fortunes and helping his side win this game.
90+7 min: Malen wins the ball off Reece James deep in Villa territory and surges forward. He plays the ball inside to Bailey, who runs into the onrushing Filip Jorgensen and just falls over. I’d put it down to fatigue but he hasn’t been on that long. Malen should probably have made a beeline for the corner flag but it doesn’t matter – the final whistle is blown and Villa have won.
90+5 min: On for Christopher Nkunku, who has dismally failed yet another audition for Chelsea, Jadon Sancho gets on the ball but runs into traffic.
90+3 min: Rashford cuts in from the left and has a shot blocked.
90+2 min: We’re into seven minutes of added time and Chelsea’s obvious shortcomings in the goalkeeping department look set to cost them dearly. Again.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea (Asensio 90)
Villa lead! Marco Asensio scores his second and it’s a gift from Filip Jorgensen, who allows a fairly weak shot from distance to squirm under his body after the ball came the Spaniard’s way when Villa took a short corner. That’s a dreadful mistake from the Chelsea goalkeeper.
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88 min: Jorgensen is quick off his line to prevent Malen lifting a slide-rule pass from Rashford over him and into the goal. Good goalkeeping. “What’s the point of VAR if it can’t correct a very obvious penalty like Cucurella on Bogarde a minute ago?” asks Gene Salorio.
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87 min: Malo Gusto tries to play a weighted pass towards the byline but completely overhits it and sends the ball straight out of play for a goal-kick before covering his head with his hands.
82 min: Tosin fouls Malen as the Villa man received and tried to control a throw-in. Free-kick for the hosts in a good position wide on the left. Rashford’s whipped delivery is splendid and Cucurella clearly hauls Bogarde backwards in the penalty area as the Villa substitute tries to reach the ball. That should definitely be a penalty for Villa but neither the ref nor VAR are prepared to award it. Cue: a load of ex-pros and referees saying it wasn’t enough of a foul. It really was.
80 min: Three of Villa’s subs, Malen, Garcia and Bailey combine in fine style down the right only for Bailey to cut inside and drill a low ball into the Chelsea box straight to the feet of a defender. Danger averted.
78 min: Clearly still feeling the effects of that challenge from Nkunku, Villa midfielder Morgan Rogers limps off and is replaced by Donyell Malen. Leon Bailey is on for Villa too, in place of Ollie Watkins.
75 min: Cole Palmer beats the onrushing Emi Martinez with a shot from the edge of the Villa penalty area after being picked out by an excellent Moises Caicedo pass but Ezri Konsa is on hand behind his goalkeeper to block the shot. It was a goalbound effort but a weak one, probably because Palmer lost his footing and had to rush his effort.
74 min: Matty Cash has made way for Andres Garcia in the Villa ranks.
72 min: Another yellow card. This time it’s brandished in the direction of Nkunku, who was late with a “robust” challenge on Morgan Rogers that sent the Villa midfielder cartwheeling through the air like a cricket stump on the receiving end of a Jimmy Anderson special.
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70 min: Pedro Neto plays the ball inside to Cole Palmer, who curls a shot narrowly wide from the edge of the Villa penalty area. Such is the young man’s talent and the quality of his showreel, you’d expect him to score from there.
68 min: McGinn isn’t so lucky this time, picking up a yellow card for a foul on Cucurella on the halfway line.
66 min: McGinn and Caicedo go to ground after contesting a second ball and the Chelsaea midfielder is penalised about 10 yards inside his own half. Tielemans’ free-kick is overhit and Ian Maatsen is unable to prevent the ball from going out for a goal-kick.
64 min: On for Tyrone Mings, who has been forced to make way, Lamare Bogarde makes a dog’s breakfast of dealing with a long clearance from Filip Jorgensen but gets away with it.
62 min: I literally have one job but managed to type the incorrect score. Humble apologies; to be clear, it is Aston Villa 1-1 Chelsea.
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GOAL! Aston Villa 1-1 Chelsea (Asensio 57)
The goal is given! Rashford was onside when he collected the cross from Matty Cash. He squared it for Asensio, who dug it out from under his feet and prodded over the line despite the best efforts of Reece James. It’s all square at Villa Park. VAR rides to Villa’s rescue.
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57 min: Rashford squares the ball for Asensio, who hooks the ball home from a couple of yards out despite the best efforts of James to prevent the ball crossing the line. The ball is ruled out for a Rashford offside but I think it will be given.
55 min: Villa surge forward on the counter only for Asensio to be felled by a cynical Fernandez foul. The Argentinian gets a well deserved yellow card which has been in the post.
52 min: Neto runs on to a through ball from Palmer down the inside-left and tries his luck. His shot is well wide of the far post, leaving Christopher Nkunku gesticulating in frustration at the far post. The Frenchman was in an excellent position to tap wide from a couple of yards out.
51 min: Rashford wins a corner off Malo Gusto but Chelsea are awarded a goal-kick. The officials didn’t notice the ball take a nick off the Chelsea defender.
49 min: Play resumes and Mings has not yet been substituted despite being helped off the pitch by members of the Villa medical staff. He resumes his position after being waved back on by the ref, so hopefully he’s OK.
47 min: Tyrone Mings is on the deck holding his left knee. He dropped to the ground moments after standing up following what looked a fairly innocuous foul by Enzo Fernandez. He looks in a bit of distress, which is a worry.
Second half: Aston Villa 0-1 Chelsea
46 min: Play resumes with Marcus Rashford on for the Villa in place of Jacob Ramsey.
Half-time: Aston Villa 0-1 Chelsea
The players adjourn to their dressing-rooms for the half-time brews, gels and energy bars with Chelsea leading courtesy of Enzo Fernadez’s kneed close-range effort from a fine Pedro Neto cross. It took Villa a while to spark into life and they’ve had a few chances, but Chelsea probably deserve their slender lead on the balance of play.
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45+5 min: Caicedo fouls Tielemans and Villa have a free-kick some 35 yards from the Chelsea goal, well left of centre. John McGinn’s delivery is towards Cash but Enzo Fernadez manages to nod it away from the Villa right-back. The half ends with McGinn shooting high over the Chelsea goal from distance.
45+4 min: Tyrone Mings intercepts a Reece James ball from deep with a thumping header as Chelsea try to press home their advantage. The atmosphere at Villa Park seems very subdued.
45+1 min: We’re into six minutes of added time at the end of this first half and Matty Cash appears to be OK. After good work by Reece James, Malo Gusto tries to pick out Nkunku with a curled ball across the edge of the Villa six-yard box but Martinez is quick off his line to smother the ball and snuff out the danger.
44 min: Matty Cash needs treatment after banging his head off the truf after contesting a high ball. He tried to break his fall with his right arm, which may also be hurt.
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43 min: A Chelsea corner is cleared towards Reece James on the edge of the Villa penalty area. The dropping ball could scarcely be more inviting but his volley is wild, sending it well wide of the far post.
41 min: “I don’t like it when my prejudices are challenged,” writes Joe Johnson, who may or may or may not be the 1986 world snooker champion. “How has it happened that nouveau riche Chelsea are wearing a stylish, restrained strip (delicate cream, 70s vibe, no sponsor on the front), and Emery, urbane European, is wearing an absurdly showy, distractingly oversized wristwatch?”
39 min: Levi Colwill is all over Watkins like a cheap rug as the Villa striker controls a long ball forward from Tielemans and holds it up. Chelsea get back in numbers and eventually clear their lines.
37 min: Christopher Nkunku tries to curl a shot past Emi Martinez after cutting in from the left. The Villa goalkeeper dives to his left and saves far more theatrically than I suspect was necessary. One for the cameras, as they say.
35 min: Fernandez clips a ball forward for Pedro Neto to chase but he’s beaten to it by Cash, who proceeds to lose his footing. Villa recover, advance upfield and Watkins shoots into the side netting from a tightish angle. It wasn’t a bad effort.
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33 min: Maatsen and Ramsey combine well down the left for Villa, the latter playing the ball into the Chelsea penalty area for the former after they’d exchanged passes. Maatsen runs into traffic and a potentially good chance goes to waste.
32 min: Youri Tielemans tries to dink the ball over Chelsea’s defence to send Jacob Ramsey in behind and through on goal. Cole Palmer is on hand to intercept with a header.
29 min: Filip Jorgensen sticks out a foot to make a crucial interception and prevent Ollie Watkins tapping home a cross from Morgan Rogers. Moments later at the other end of the pitch, Cole Palmer fires into the side-netting, his shot taking a deflection off Tyrone Mings.
28 min: “A sharp contrast in styles, this,” writes Peter Oh. “Unai Emery’s sleekly coiffed head of hair and smooth chin, versus Enzo Maresca’s bald pate and salt-and-pepper beard. The Premier League really is the best in the world.”
27 min: Our match referee Michael Oliver makes a great show of performatively stopping his watch as Fernandez goes down rubbing the back of his head after a something-and-nothing challenge.
26 min: Enzo Fernadez curls a shot over the bar from distance and the ball bounces off the roof of the Villa net.
24 min: Marc Cucurella fouls Morgan Rogers in the area between the right side of the Chelsea penalty area and the touchline. The free-kick is curled into the area and Villa are penalised for offside.
23 min: Tyrone Mings goes down injured after being fouled by Pedro Neto near the halfway line, prompting another short break in play. Neto gets a ticking-off from the referee, Michael Oliver, but avoids a booking.
21 min: Watkins has another shot blocked, this time by Cucurella. It’s taken a while but Villa have finally woken up.
20 min: Better from Villa. Ollie Watkins shoots a low diagonal effort towards the near post after being picked out by a good pass from Asensio. Jorgensen stands firm and beats his effort away.
18 min: Chelsea play it out from the back, with Rerece James putting a stop to their tippy-tappy frippery by getting the ball launched towards the corner. Cole Palmer sends a cross into the box, where Fernandez is lurking but the delivery is just a little bit too high for the Argentinian.
16 min: Villa boss Unai Emery is gesticulating furiously on the touchline, clearly unimpressed by his team’s slow start.
13 min: “The Peacock coverage has just started, so I didn’t hear the pre-match music,” writes Joe Pearson. “But I always thought they opened with ‘Crazy Train’, which is a solo cut from Ozzy.” I stand corrected but will counter that I did spend an afternoon in Ozzy’s Buckinghamshire mansion in the company of the great man, which probably makes my error all the more inexcusable.
11 min: Not renowned for the quality of their performances after midweek exertions in Europe and now – it seems – on the domestic front, Villa have started slowly again and are deservedly behind.
GOAL! Aston Villa 0-1 Chelsea (Fernandez 9)
Chelsea lead! Pedro Neto takes on and beats Ian Maatsen with a minimum of fuss down the left wing and sends a low cross fizzing across the face of the Villa goal. Mings sticks out a leg but is unable to intercept the delivery and Fernadez taps the ball home from close range.
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6 min: Trevoh Chalobah is sitting on the deck, feeling his lower back. There’s a break in play so the Chelsea medics can come on to attend to him. It looks like this evening’s jig might be up for him. A correction: it was he and not Caicedo who was felled by Asensio and he must have pulled something in his lower lumbar region as he fell. Tosin Aderabioyo is ready to come on.
4 min: Now Marco Asensio is penalised for a barge on Moises Caicedo, which floors the Chelsea midfielder.
2 min: Chelsea gallop forward with Enzo Fernandez on the ball and plays it towards PEdro Neto, who appears to be playing through the middle. The ball’s put out for a Chelsea throw-in, which Marc Cucurella takes. Fernandez is penalised for a foul and protests his innocence in the classic South American “Who, me?” style. Yes, Enzo. You.
Aston Villa v Chelsea is go ...
1 min: Villa get the ball rolling, their players wearing their usual home kit. Their visitors are in – I’m going to say – cream shirts, shorts and socks, with blue and orange trim.
Not long now: Black Sabbath are blaring over the Tannoy and the Champions League qualification hopes of both teams are very much up in the air. Referee Michael Oliver leads both sets of players out on to the Villa Park pitch, their arrival greeted by the thick end of 43,000 supporters, the vast majority of whom will be hoping for a game every bit as entertaining – but slightly less end-to-end and even – as the match between Villa and Liverpool on Wednesday night. Kick-off will be along very shortly.
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Today’s Premier League results
Everton 2-2 Manchester United
Arsenal 0-1 West Ham
Bournemouth 0-1 Wolves
Fulham 0-2 Crystal palace
Ipswich Town 1-4 Tottenham Hotspur
Southampton 0-4 Brighton
Aston Villa v Chelsea
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Today’s match officials
Referee: Michael Oliver.
Assistants: Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring.
Fourth official: Dean Whitestone.
VAR: Paul Tierney.
Assistant VAR: Richard West.
Chelsea: Cole Palmer has created more chances than anyone but his team does not have a striker who can finish them, writes Ben McAleer.
Those teams: Enzo Maresca brings in Reece James in place of the injured Noni Madueke in the only change to the Chelsea team that started against Brighton last weekend, which means the visitors will almost certainly line up with three at the back.
Unai Emery makes four changes to the team that started against Liverpool in midweek. After two games out with injury, Ezri Konsa comes into the side in place of Axel Disasi, who is ineligible to play against his parent club, while Marcus Rashford, Lucas Digne and Andres Garcia drop to the substitutes’ bench. Jacob Ramsey, Ian Maasen and Matty Cash come into the side.
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Aston Villa v Chelsea line-ups
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Maatsen, McGinn, Tielemans, Asensio, Ramsey, Rogers; Watkins.
Subs: Olsen, Zych, Digne, Garcia, Bogarde, Bailey, Malen, Rashford; Jimoh-Aloba.
Chelsea: Chelsea: Jorgensen, Gusto, James, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucrella, Caicedo, Enzo, Palmer, Neto; Nkunku.
Subs: Sanchez, Acheampong, Samuels-Smith, Tosin, Dewsbury-Hall, Amougou, Sancho, George; Mhueka.
Early team news
Aston Villa are without their on-loan defender Axel Disasi, who is forbidden from playing against his parent club, which means Lamare Bogarde may have to step into the heart of their defence alongside Tyrone Mings. Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana, Pau Torres and Ross Barkley are all injured, while the participation of both Leon Bailey and Ezri Konsa is also in doubt.
For Chelsea, Nicolas Jackson, Mark Guiu, Noni Madueke, Romeo Lavia, Wesley Fofana and Omari Kelly are all sidelined with injury, while Mykhaylor Mudryk remains suspended. Benoit Badiashile is expected to undergo a pre-match fitness test but seems unlikely to start. Despite failing to impress since getting his opportunity to play in the first team, Christopher Nkunku seems likely to be given another start in the absence of anyone better.
Premier League: Aston Villa v Chelsea
Without a win in any of their past five league games, four of which have been drawn, Aston Villa welcome an out-of-sorts Chelsea side who travel to Villa Park after back-to-back league and FA Cup defeats at the hands of Brighton, who must wish they could play Enzo Maresca’s side every week.
While Villa have lost just once this season in front of their own fans, against Arsenal back in August, their habit of drawing too many games is costing them. Yesterday they learned they will be facing the Belgian side Club Brugge in the last 16 of the Champions League, a tie one presumes both they and their Belgian opponents will be confident of winning.
In the corresponding fixture at Stamford Bridge in early December, Chelsea produced a controlled and assured performance to run out fairly easy winners but go into this contest having won just three of their last 11 matches in all competitions. They have also failed to win any of their last six games away from home. Kick-off at Villa Park is at 5.30pm (GMT) but we’ll have team news and build-up in the meantime.
