Aston Villa got in front through Reece James' own goal before Jorginho scored on either side of Romelu Lukaku's goal to seal the win for Chelsea.
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Chelsea defeated Aston Villa 3-1 in the Premier League fixture on Sunday courtesy of a brace from Jorginho and an impressive performance off the bench from Romelu Lukaku. At Villa Park, the home side started the match brightly and took the lead through Reece James’ own goal. But Chelsea equalized immediately through Jorginho from the penalty spot. After the break, Lukaku’s header put Chelsea’s nose in front before he won a late penalty which Jorginho converted to seal the victory.
Villa boss Steven Gerrard was missing after testing positive for COVID-19 but the hosts started the match positively, finding spaces in the Chelsea half and creating goal scoring chances. Meanwhile Chelsea’s only real attempt in the first half was a cross-shot from Mason Mount that hit the crossbar.
In the 28th minute, the hosts were rewarded for their positive intent. Matt Targett’s cross from the left flank skimmed off the head of James before loping over goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and into the goal.
Six minutes later, the visitors leveled the score. Callum Hudson-Odoi was brought down inside the box by Matty Cash and the referee straight away pointed to the penalty spot. Aston Villa goalkeeper attempted to disrupt the penalty taker Jorginho and received a yellow card for his antics. But Jorginho maintained his composure and converted the penalty.
The three-punch KO! ?#AvlChe pic.twitter.com/ELdgg3rlYD
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 26, 2021
It was the Italian midfielder’s fifth penalty in six games. Chelsea’s top scorer last season and this. Tuchel brought in Lukau in the second half and the Belgian, who was making his comeback after getting injured in October, turned the game around.
Within 11 minutes of coming on, he gave the lead to Chelsea. Lukaku got past his marker Tyrone Mings and got his head to Hudson-Odoi’s cross from the left and nodded the ball past Martinez and into the net.
Luakaku’s introduction changed the complexion of the game and the momentum was now with Chelsea. Few minutes later, Mount should have extended the lead as he got past an advancing Martinez but dragged his shot wide of the near post.
Three minutes from time, Martinez made a brilliant save from Hudson-Odoi to keep Villa in the game but Lukaku once again proved too hot for Villa defence to handle. The 28-year-old burst his way past Ezri Konsa and the defender fouled him inside the box. Once again, Jorginho stepped up and scored his second of the night from the penalty spot.
The win helped Chelsea to 41 points, level with second-placed Liverpool and 6 behind leaders Manchester City, who had earlier defeated Leicester City 6-3. Meanwhile Aston Villa are at the 11th spot with 22 points from 18 games.
Tuchel said on Sky Sports: “It’s a big victory. The reaction was very, very good, and the mentality was outstanding. We did not allow any chances and created a lot of chances. Job done, but we are worried. We have another injured player. We play against a team with no international duty. At some stage it’ll catch us.
“It’s not fair today. He [Lukaku] had a very good performance, he was very helpful, but it’s not fair. He’s not ready for that even if he wants it. We’ve all been in bed for 10 days with flu. I did not play two days later a match at Villa Park – we don’t know what happens from that. We just put the players in but we don’t know [what the impact is]. He was a game changer today. I’m super impressed with the guys but I’m super concerned.”
