Premier League: Paul Lambert admits to mixed emotions as Aston Villa end drought in Chelsea defeat

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert admitted he had mixed emotions after his side broke their goal drought but lost at home to Chelsea.

Carles Gil set up Jores Okore for Villa’s first Premier League goal in nearly 11 hours of football to cancel out Eden Hazard’s opener, before a stunning strike from Branislav Ivanovic earned the league leaders the points.

The result leaves Villa in 16th place in the table, two points clear of the relegation zone, but they enjoyed plenty of bright spells against Chelsea, and Lambert was pleased with his side’s display despite defeat.

“Mixed emotions because I thought we were excellent – we looked really good and I thought we undeservedly lost the game,” he said.

“I thought [the goal] was no more than we deserved because in the first half we were finishing stronger as well.

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“The second half we started really well, and Carles does fantastically on the by-line and it’s a really good goal.

"I thought at that moment we looked as if we were the team that was going to go on and win.”

Creating

Okore’s goal was Villa’s first Premier League strike in 2015 and ends a run of six league matches without netting after Christian Benteke scored in the draw with Manchester United before Christmas.

Despite the unwanted statistic of nearly 11 hours in the league without a goal, Lambert insists he was not overly concerned.

“We’ve been creating chances – it’s not as if we haven’t been creating chances, we’ve just not been taking them,” he added.

“Today, thankfully, it went in and hopefully that will kick us on. The football club’s got no doubt that we’ve got games coming up where if we play like that we’ll win more often than not.”