Chelsea were handed a 2-0 defeat on home turf by Aston Villa upon their return to Premier League action in Saturday’s Stamford Bridge contest.
MATCH PROCEEDINGS
The home side got off to a good start going forward with winger Mudryk testing Aston Villa goalkeeper Martinez with an early shot which was saved rather easily.
Aston Villa responded on the other end of the pitch through midfielder James McGinn whose strike from the edge of the area beat Chelsea goalie Kepa but came back off the bar.
Villa got the lead they deserved as Ollie Watkins lifted the ball over Kepa to make it 1-0 for the visitors with Chelsea’s defence letting them down.
Chelsea upped the pressure on the Villa backline with Joao Felix going close with a shot and midfield man Ezno Fernandez headed a Reece James cross wide of the goal.
Mudryk had a brilliant opportunity to level the scoreline but the new boy could not get the better of Villa’s World Cup winner Martinez with a shot that lacked power.
Villa looked upbeat after the break and had a second goal to show for their dominance with McGinn’s thunderous strike finding the back of the net.
Chelsea had two players coming off the bench in Noni Madueke and N’Golo Kante with the latter making his return to the pitch after a lengthy injury layoff.
A VAR check denied the hosts their calls for a penalty after a shot from Felix was saved and bounced back onto Villa defender Tyrone Mings.
Conor Gallagher and Christian Pulisic were brought on in the final stages with Potter hoping for his side to salvage something from the game which was not meant to be as Villa held on to clinch the three points.
