Ben Fisher’s match report is in, which is my cue to slope off. Thanks for your company, correspondence and chortling at the Guardian’s spelling mistakes. The MBM will be back tomorrow with two games in the WSL and two in the PL, including the north London derby.
And the consequence is … Villa stay fourth, as they were always going to. They could have been nine points up on Spurs but have to settle for seven: Villa 67 from 35 games, Spurs 60 from 32.
Chelsea stay ninth with 48 points from 33 games, but they should end up eighth. They’re only just behind West Ham, who have 49 points from 35 games after they too drew 2-2 today, with Liverpool.
Here’s Conor Gallagher. “We’re gutted, really,” he says. “Poor first half, but lethargic. The gaffer, long story short, just told us to liven up and work harder. Second half was much better, we showed great character. The goal at the end should have counted, not my decision. Very happy with the goal, absolute swinger.”
Two goals per side, and two quite different halves. Villa controlled the first without having much of the ball. Chelsea bossed the second, while still allowing the odd chance, and they had a goal disallowed in each half. It could easily have been 4-4.
FULL TIME! Villa 2-2 Chelsea
And that’s that.
90+9 min Chance for Villa! Duran, with a header from a corner – over the bar.
90+9 min Before that, Palmer had a big chance – he picked Villa’s pocket as they played out from the back, worked the space well, but his shot was saved by Olsen.
DISALLOWED! Villa 2-2 Chelsea
The ref goes to the monitor and chalks the goal off.
Hang on!
The ball came back in after a corner, and Disasi was alert and got the header in off the underside of the bar. But there had been a shove in the back in the build-up…
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GOALL!!!! Villa 2-3 Chelsea (Disasi 90+5)
They’ve done it!
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90+2 min Gallagher and Palmer, the brains trust of this young Chelsea team, stand over a free kick. Gallagher takes it, then has a follow-up shot blocked. Palmer picks the ball up on the left wing but can’t do much with it.
90+1 min There will be at least six more minutes. Plenty of time for a winner.
90 min At last, a Chelsea sub, in fact two. Thiago Silva off, limping; Disasi on. Casadei also on, for Mudryk I think.
89 min Not long ago I was noting that it was 11-5 to Chelsea on shots. Now it’s 19-8.
88 min Big chance for Villa! A cross comes in from the right to the penalty spot, where Watkins has plenty of time to get the shot away – and he blasts it over the bar.
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87 min McGinn breaks away with the ball, though without anyone to pass to. Thiago Silva helps him out by fouling him and picks up a yellow card.
86 min Villa almost escape, but then Chelsea surround the ball and win it back. They now have a corner.
83 min Another Villa sub: Duran comes on to replace Diaby, who has now been subbed on and off in the same game. In terms of subs, this game is not so close: Villa 4, Chelsea 0.
82 min Villa may have a back five but none of them got stuck into Gallagher. He danced along the edge of the box, thought he might as well shoot, and hit the ball beautifully – left foot, top bin. He was helped by a good little run off the ball from someone, Palmer I suspect.
GOAL!!! Villa 2-2 Chelsea (Gallagher 81)
This is a peach.
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79 min Jackson, slipped in by Madueke, blows a good position with a heavy first touch.
77 min Villa seem to have switched to a back five, but Chelsea are still looking dangerous. They pile forward again and Cucurella tees up Palmer, whose shot from the D is just wide.
74 min Villa waste a corner. Time for some subs from Unai Emery: Leon Bailey and Douglas Luiz off, Tim Iroegbunam and Diego Carlos on.
73 min Then Villa get upfield, with Watkins almost getting the chance he has been waiting for – but the ball refuses to fall kindly for him.
71 min Another chance for Madueke! Caicedo, nixing fire with finesse, pulls off a fine sliding tackle and then plays a dink through to Madueke, whose left-foot poke is batted away by Olsen.
67 min Villa could do with a lull and they get one as Digne needs some treatment. “It’s chalk and cheese, it really is,” says Joe Cole about Chelsea in this half, as compared with the first. “They’ve started on absolute fire.”
66 min Bailey goes into the boxok for stepping on Caicedo’s foot. Another free kick to Chelsea.
65 min Palmer hits a skimmer, wide of Olsen’s left-hand post. The crowd are getting agitated and they’re right to be.
65 min And now Madueke charges forward and wins a free kick in the D.
63 min The goal was made by Gallagher, with his buzzy pressing. He slipped in Madueke, who found the precision Chelsea had been lacking and steered a low shot into the far corner with his left foot as if his name was Cole.
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GOAL! Villa 2-1 Chelsea (Madueke 63)
Back in it!
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62 min Gallagher tests Olsen with a chipped cross. He comes and gets it, bravely, but then …
61 min Cometh the hour, cometh the man? Not just yet, but Palmer is getting on the ball more.
59 min Chelsea corner, taken by Palmer, not to him, which might be more productive. He hits it long to the back post, where Thiago Silva’s header wins another corner. Gallagher takes this one, which leaves another Villa goalie in pain – Olsen drops the ball, not fully, and then winces as he feels his back, but he’s well enough to take a free kick.
58 min A glimmer from Palmer, who dances in from the right and shoots, only to find the nearest defender ready with the block.
57 min Villa break and Badiashile has to resort to the dark arts to stop Rogers. Craig Pawson is close by but can’t see anything wrong with it.
55 min After yet another sortie by Madueke down the right, the chance falls to Caicedo, whose long shot is accurate but easily held by Olsen.
53 min Madueke breaks free down the right, cuts in and shoots, wide of the far post. Chelsea have now had two-thirds of the shots (11-5) as well as nearly three-quarters of the ball (72-28).
51 min Diaby, who has yet to shine in his cameo role, brings down Badiashile on the Chelsea left, but Palmer’s free kick is easily cleared.
49 min Handbags! Luiz and Caicedo clash as Luiz grabs a fistful of Caicedo’s shirt. Out comes the yellow card, for both parties I think.
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47 min The first shot of this half comes from the man whose own-goal kick-started the first, Marc Cucurella, and it’s not as telling as that one was. But then Chelsea get forward again and Madueke needs shepherding again as a mazy dribble takes him into the box.
46 min Madueke goes for a wander down the right. Villa send reinforcements and they shepherd the ball out for a goal kick.
Villa change their keeper
Another Villa sub: Robin Olsen is coming on. And not just to have a run-out before he’s needed in the European semi-final – Emi Martinez has injured a hamstring.
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Villa are quite excited about their local boy.
The M̶b̶a̶p̶p̶é̶ Rogers finish. 😏 pic.twitter.com/T1jeEBgmdC
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) April 27, 2024
Villa can’t go up or down the table tonight but as it stands, they are sailing into the Champions League. They are nine points clear of Spurs, who entertain Arsenal tomorrow. Spurs do have three games in hand, but they also have a tough run-in, involving all of the top three.
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HALF-TIME! Villa 2-0 Chelsea
There’s time for Villa to set off on yet another counter, four on three, but again Diaby’s pass is a loose one. And that is that for this half. One team has had the possession; the other has scored the goals.
45+4 min Villa break and it looks promising until Diaby overhits his pass to Bailey on the right.
45+4 min Chelsea get into the box, but nothing comes of it.
45+3 min A stat box pops up to inform us that Villa are now the second most prolific PL team in the first half of their games this season, with 35 goals, one behind Arsenal.
45+1 min We’re into the first of six minutes of added time.
45 min Chelsea pass it around again in the Villa half. They must be wondering how on earth they’re two down.
42 min Villa were on the counter, though it didn’t look that dangerous – they had a four-on-six. When the ball came to Rogers in the inside-left channel, he swayed inside and hit a clinical shot, just inside the near post. That’s his third in successive home games, apparently.
GOAL!! Villa 2-0 Chelsea (Rogers 41)
Another one! Very well taken.
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40 min Free kick to Chelsea on the left wing. Palmer crosses, not high enough, and there’s an infringement anyway.
38 min It’s end to end now. Gallagher has a shot, trying to curl it past Martinez from the D, but it doesn’t have enough whip on it.
37 min Chance for Villa! Watkins races away down the left and hits a sharp left-foot shot which Petrovic does well to beat away.
36 min “I know it’s the Grauniad and all,” says Joe Pearson. “but I am loving your alternate spellings: McGann and Diane in particular. Keep it up!” Ha. The spellcheck does seem to be a little over-zealous tonight. I’ve changed about six McGanns, sorry to miss that one. And Diaby may well turn into Diary before the night is done.
34 min Chelsea hit the woodwork! Cucurella got away down the left and chipped a cross into Jackson, whose header did everything right – except find the inside of the bottom of the post.
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32 min McGinn’s cross is easily cleared.
31 min Bailey wins a free kick on the right wing. McGinn to take it.
29 min Jackson, who has looked sharp, almost sneaks through but is well policed by the Villa defence, who are looking organised.
28 min Palmer has his second shot, from the D, and it’s blocked. Blocking is such a vital skill these days.
“Yes I’m a Chelsea fan,” says Lee Madden, “but really, VAR has to be the ultimate version of turning a good idea into a dreadful ‘solution’. I’d far rather the odd error than turning football into a procedural drama where we wait for lines to be drawn and fractions to be measured.
“Oh and WTF are the Chelsea owners doing even thinking about selling Gallagher. He’s been so consistent and looks great with his blond hair.”
27 min Tielemans is up and walking now, while still looking disconsolate.
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25 min Tielemans is down and in some distress, perhaps as a result of that push from Gallagher. Moussa Diaby is about to come on, so it looks as if McGinn will drop back into the middle four.
25 min Yet more possession for Chelsea, culminating in a long shot from Caicedo – along the ground and straight at Martinez.
23 min At last, Chelsea find Palmer in the pocket. The ball from Mudryk is good and Palmer hits it first time, without his usual precision.
22 min Gallagher gives Tielemans a shove in the back and then smiles ruefully when the whistle goes, as if he was the injured party.
20 min Villa break but up goes the flag for another offside, against Watkins I think. His ball out to Bailey on the right was a bit too wide anyway.
19 min Before that, Villa messed up a good chance. Watkins broke brilliantly down the left and crossed to McGinn, who couldn’t sort his feet out for the shot and ended up passing it back. Watkins shot from the corner of the box, straight at Petrovic.
DISALLOWED! Villa 1-0 Chelsea
Yes, he was offside. And by more than a toenail.
GOAL?! Villa 1-1 Chelsea, maybe (Jackson 16)
Jackson runs onto a through ball and loops it over the advancing Martinez. But is he offside?
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15 min Hardly any of these passes of Chelsea’s are going to their best player. They may be trying too hard to prove that they’re not Cole Palmer FC.
14 min More possession for Chelsea. But Villa are good at holding onto a lead: in the league this season, they’ve scored first 18 times and only ended up losing once, which I think was at Old Trafford on Boxing Day.
11 min Chelsea do get hold of the ball and make it into the box, where Martinez eases Villa out of trouble with a cool pass along the byline.
9 min Digne is unstoppable! As a free kick is swung in from the right, he gets the header, though it balloons upwards. Chelsea badly need to get some possession.
8 min Chance! Diane again, hitting the side netting this time, with his right foot.
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Digne made the goal with a rapid overlap and cutback. McGann found a pocket of space and shot with his left foot, not all that strongly, but the ball bounced off Cucurella and trickled into the far corner. Cucurella was marking Watkins, who didn’t appear to get a touch.
GOAL!!! Villa 1-0 Chelsea (not sure who, 4)
Up the other end, the ball is in the net!
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4 min Gallagher floats the free kick into the inside-left channel, where Badiashile has the first shot of the night. But (a) it’s a wild volley and (b) he’s probably offside anyway. And then …
3 min Chelsea pass it around at the back. Gallagher, injecting some urgency, plays forward to Caicedo, who wins a free kick by being the ham in a Villa sandwich.
2 min Chelsea get forwards as Palmer plays a sharp square ball out to the right, but the glimmer is extinguished as Jackson fouls Torres.
1 min John McGann kicks off.
The teams are out there, both in their familiar colours – claret and blue at one end, royal blue at the other. Unai Emery strides past the home fans with a thumbs-up and then joins Poch in a friendly hug.
On TNT Glenn Hoddle is talking empathetically about Mauricio Pochettino, the latest of his many successors as Chelsea manager. “He needs to know who his five or six big players are,” Hoddle says. “You need a spine. I don’t think he’s really got that yet.” But he and Joe Cole agree that another change of manager is not the answer.
“I’ve seen enough in Chelsea’s performances to believe that they can turn this round,” Hoddle goes on. “Next season starts now … They’ll be better next season than this.”
It’s already been a bad night for Chelsea. They went out of the Women’s Champions League as Barcelona turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win.
“Good to see George Washington on the bench for Chelsea,” says Drew Chappell. “Maybe he can be the experienced leader they’ve craved all season.”
“What exactly did Dyche do to his tracksuit,” asks Brendan Large, “before he started wearing it to matches? That is now three wins in a row whilst he’s been wearing it.”
It's Watkins v Palmer
This game pitches two of the top three goalscorers in the Premier League against each other. And if you take assists into account as well, it’s both of the top two.
For goals, Cole Palmer is level with Erling Haaland on 20, one up on Ollie Watkins. For assists, Watkins leads the way with 12, while Palmer is fourth-equal with nine. So, for goals and assists combined, it’s Watkins on top with 31, Palmer second with 29, and Haaland in the shade on 25, just behind Mo Salah on 26.
In other news, Everton have avoided relegation. They needed three points today and got them by beating Brentford 1-0 with a goal from Idrissa Gueye. Since capitulating at Chelsea, Everton have had three games at Goodison Park and won them all without conceding once. Everton go 15th, above Brentford: it were not for the points deductions, they’d be level with Brighton.
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We have an email. “What does it mean,” wonders Stephen Taylor, “‘if the FA gets its way’?” Sorry not to be clear – I was referring to this story.
Teams in full
Aston Villa (possible 4-4-1-1) Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Bailey, Tielemans, Douglas Luiz, Rogers; McGinn; Watkins.
Subs: Olsen, Lenglet, Chambers, Hayden, Diego Carlos, Iroegbunam, Kellyman, Diaby, Duran.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Petrovic; Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Badiashile, Cucurella; Caicedo, Gallagher (capt); Madueke, Palmer, Mudryk; Jackson.
Subs: Bettinelli, Curd, Disasi, Chilwell, Acheampong, Gilchrist, Dyer, Casadei, George, Washington.
Referee Craig Pawson.
Teams in brief: Palmer starts, Luiz returns
Cole Palmer, who was enough of a doubt to be in italics on our predicted line-ups, has been passed fit, so he starts. No sign of Raheem Sterling. For Villa, Douglas Luiz replaces Moussa Diaby.
Preamble
Evening everyone and welcome to the last game of the day in the Premier League. It’s fourth against ninth, and they both know what they’re up against as they have already met three times this season.
So far there hasn’t been anything for the home crowds to celebrate. Villa won 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in the league as a goal from Ollie Watkins followed a red card for Malo Gusto. In the FA Cup, it was 0-0 at the Bridge before Chelsea went to Villa Park and won 3-1, with a flourish, in a match that, if the FA gets its way, will be the last of its kind for either side.
That was the start of Chelsea’s best spell of the season, a run of 12 games in which the only taste of defeat was the bitter one that came in the dying minutes of the League Cup final. Now they’re in a rather different place, after losing narrowly to Man City in the FA Cup and heavily to Arsenal in the league – though, in between, they did manage to beat Everton 6-0.
On league form there is nothing to separate these two sides. Since Christmas, both have won exactly half their games. And both have 11 points from their past six, which (at 5.15pm today) was enough to put them above everybody in the form table bar City, Arsenal and Newcastle. Let’s face it: we’ve reached the stage of the season when everyone is knackered and anything can happen.
Kick-off is at 8pm BST and I’ll be back soon with the teams.
