Aston Villa vs Chelsea. Premier League.
Villa ParkAttendance41,754.
Match report and highlights as Mason Mount scores in both halves, punishing mistakes from Tyrone Mings and Emiliano Martinez to earn a fifth consecutive victory under Graham Potter
Monday 17 October 2022 06:16, UK
Mason Mount capitalised on mistakes from Tyrone Mings and Emiliano Martinez to give Chelsea a 2-0 win over hapless Aston Villa and increase the pressure on boss Steven Gerrard.
Graham Potter has now won all three of his Premier League matches, but he had goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga to thank as much as anyone for delivering a "world-class performance" at Villa Park to keep the hosts at bay in the first half.
Villa deserved more from their performance although they constructed their own downfall when Mings' terrible header allowed Mount to put Chelsea ahead in just the sixth minute.
Martinez later misjudged the midfielder's swerving free-kick from 25 yards to compound Villa's joyless start to the season which has seen them win just twice in the Premier League.
Mings handed Chelsea the perfect start, managing to head a looping ball in the Villa penalty area under no pressure straight to Mount, who finished expertly past Martinez.
Villa responded well and dominated the first half, but were unable to beat the outstanding Kepa. The goalkeeper could do nothing about Leon Bailey's close-range header which hit the crossbar although then made a superb double save to deny John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey.
His best save came just after the half hour when Bailey's perfect cross found Danny Ings inside the six-yard box and somehow his header was pushed over by Kepa, leaving Gerrard stunned as he squatted down on his haunches in disbelief.
An action-packed first period saw Ben Chilwell fortunate not to be sent off for a wild sliding challenge on Ramsey before Raheem Sterling hit the crossbar with a bending effort.
Potter made two changes at half-time to address Chelsea's poor performance, bringing on Kalidou Koulibaly and Cesar Azpilicueta which gave them more stability. Villa, though, were still on top until Martinez moved the wrong way for Mount's free-kick, allowing the strike to find the top of the net on his side.
Aston Villa head coach Steven Gerrard: "Credit where it's due the 'keeper [Arrizabalaga] was outstanding and I thought our performance for 60 minutes was just alongside that. Everything we asked for gameplan-wise, chance creation, be exciting, we did everything but put the ball in the net. At this level you've got to execute and that's why we came out with no points today."
On Mings' mistake: "It's an individual error, we know that, it's clear to see. Tyrone has been outstanding for us and his reaction to the mistake was superb. It was a bitter blow because just before that we were the best team. Our reaction from there was top drawer, the first 45 minutes, outside of the mistake, was probably the best we've had. We should have come out of that half with two or three goals."
On second goal: "We started the second half on the front foot and then we give the free-kick away. I'm not sure whether it's a moment of magic from Mason Mount or on us, I'll have to see it again.
"The players are together. They're fighting for the supporters and desperate to produce that top level performance. For me, the pressure and the finger-pointing and the noise has got to come on me, I've got to protect the players from that.
"I said to the players, whatever criticism flies from now until the next game, ignore it because that's on me. If they can replicate that 60-minute performance over 90 minutes, they will win on Thursday night because a team like Chelsea couldn't live with them for an hour."
Chelsea head coach Graham Potter: "It was a tough game. Aston Villa made us suffer, especially in the first half even though we took the lead. They put us under pressure and our goalkeeper made some good saves.
"It's important coming back from the Champions League game to respond. I'm delighted for the players and it's a big three points for us. They have good players, the crowd gets involved in the game.
"Results are important and it's relentless, that's how we have to manage the players and the squad.
"We believe in Mason Mount a lot. We love him as a player and he is a great guy. You can see the influence he has on the team and he works really hard for us."
On Kepa Arrizabalaga's display: "It was a world-class performance, especially in the first half. I'm really pleased for him, he has had a tough period for us at times but he contributed to the game."
Gareth Southgate was watching on at Villa Park as Mason Mount impressed with his two-goal performance, further strengthening his case for a starting spot.
Raheem Sterling was unfortunate not to end up on the scoresheet, hitting the crossbar in the first-half and narrowly missing a header in the second.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek showed his class playing in central midfield although Ben Chilwell had a difficult first half, seeing yellow for a rash sliding challenge and being exposed by Leon Bailey.
Trevoh Chalobah will be in Southgate's thoughts after a solid display at right centre-back, one of England's problem positions.
Danny Ings was denied by Arrizabalaga's brilliance while Ollie Watkins' poor form in front of goal continued - one of his second half shots went out for a throw-in.
Gareth Southgate has until Friday October 21 to submit his provisional England squad for the World Cup in Qatar, which gets underway on November 20.
Any provisional squad will have to be whittled down to a final 26-man list, which has to be submitted to FIFA on Monday November 14.
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Aston Villa are back in action on Thursday when they travel to Craven Cottage to take on Fulham, with kick-off at 7.30pm.
Chelsea are also on the road in their next game, with the Blues heading to the Gtech Community Stadium to face Brentford on Wednesday - with kick-off at 7.30pm.
Graham Potter's side will then host top-four rivals Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Saturday - live on Sky Sports - with kick-off at 5.30pm.
