Mason Mount and Kepa Arrizabalaga were Chelsea’s heroes as they survived a scare at Aston Villa to maintain Graham Potter’s unbeaten start.
Mount bagged a brace – in front of watching England boss Gareth Southgate – to seal a battling 2-0 win at Villa Park. But they needed Kepa to produce two stunning first-half stops to deny Jacob Ramsey and Danny Ings with Chelsea on the ropes. The Blues have now won their last five in all competitions – keeping four clean sheets – and cemented fourth spot in the Premier League. Defeat was harsh on an improved Villa, who rattled Chelsea, but they slipped closer to the drop zone.
Boss Steven Gerrard joined with Villa 16th and two points above the relegation zone, they now sit 16th and just a point above the bottom three almost 12 months into his reign. He had been at pains to stress the fine margins which had seen his side draw three of their last four games and had demanded his players become headline makers. The problem was Villa made all the wrong headlines as Chelsea were gifted a sixth-minute lead thanks to calamitous defending from Tyrone Mings. Mount later delivered a sucker-punch on 65 minutes after being taken down by Mings 25 yards out and firing in a brilliant free kick, which outfoxed goalkeeper Emi Martinez. Follow all the post-game reaction from Aston Villa vs Chelsea:
