New signings combine for Aston Villa
Aston Villa 2 - 1 Chelsea
New signings Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford combined twice as Aston Villa came from behind to beat Chelsea, grabbing three valuable points in their push for European qualification.
An excellent piece of play out wide from Pedro Neto fashioned a ninth-minute opener for Chelsea, with the winger skipping past Ian Maatsen before drilling a low delivery across the face of the goal which only required a slight prod from Enzo Fernandez to turn it past Emiliano Martinez.
Although Chelsea appeared to have the upper hand, they failed to maintain control of the match. The introduction of Rashford at halftime proved crucial; he was initially ruled offside, but the video assistant referee overturned that decision. Rashford then assisted Asensio by tapping a Matty Cash cross across the six-yard box, allowing Asensio to score for Aston Villa and level the game.
After again being fed by fellow mid-season recruit Rashford, Asensio netted a 90th-minute winner thanks to a huge mistake from Chelsea goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen, who allowed a first-time strike to slide underneath him.
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Last time out | Aston Villa 2 - 2 Liverpool
Aston Villa began the match slowly, but they eventually found their rhythm and capitalized on Chelsea's poor defending. They created opportunities to get in behind the defense thanks to impressive passing from John McGinn and Youri Tielemans. However, the hosts struggled to find the right finishing touch in the first half, as Ollie Watkins was unable to convert any of his four attempts on goal.
Cole Palmer's recent underwhelming form continued as he squandered a glorious chance to restore Chelsea's lead at 1-1, taking too long to shoot as goalkeeper Martinez slipped twice, giving Ezri Konsa time to rush back and clear his effort.
Asensio's late winner means Villa rise to seventh in the table, a point behind Chelsea and two points off fourth-placed Manchester City.
Aston Villa v Chelsea Highlights here from the Aston Villa YouTube account | youtu.be/krY7ciP8GW8?... More reaction coming up on European Super Football | eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com/p/premier-le...
— Super News Affiliate (@sup3rnew5affiliate.bsky.social) 23 February 2025 at 10:06
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Maresca's side fail to bounce back
Chelsea were eager to bounce back after their disappointing 3-0 defeat to Brighton in their last outing—a performance manager Enzo Maresca branded the "worst" of his tenure.
This display was certainly an improvement, but still far from flawless. They had chances to tighten their grip on the game against a sluggish Aston Villa side but failed to capitalise.
Chelsea’s fluid attacking setup caused problems for Villa, with Neto proving to be the biggest menace, repeatedly troubling Maatsen down the flank. However, aside from Neto and Fernandez, few players made a real impact in the final third.
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Defensively, Chelsea left too many gaps behind their midfield, which Villa duly exploited, often leaving the backline exposed.
Reece James, deployed in an unusual right-midfield role, showed glimpses of quality in winning back possession and moving the ball forward. However, he struggled to manage the space behind him effectively.
The early forced substitution of Trevoh Chalobah—who went off with a back injury—for Tosin Adarabioyo unsettled Chelsea’s defence, which never looked entirely assured.
Despite having several opportunities to put Villa to the sword, the Blues failed to take them, with Palmer once again struggling to find his best form.
