If Mauricio Pochettino could have scripted a redemption game, it would have gone something like this. Everything the Chelsea manager touched turned to gold as his Carabao Cup finalists waltzed into the last 16 of the FA Cup, responding to two four-goal concessions in the Premier League by outplaying Aston Villa to secure a home tie with Championship opponents Leeds United.
Pochettino reacted to the farrago over Thiago Silva’s wife hinting on X that the manager should be dismissed by leaving out his classiest, if oldest, defender and then reintroducing him for the final minutes of a valedictory night.
It was an evening when the Chelsea manager came up with a tactical plan to remind us why he has always been so highly rated. Not even a consolation goal from Moussa Diaby in stoppage time could take the gloss off Pochettino’s night as Villa continue to stumble after their breathtaking first half of season.
With Chelsea 2-0 up inside 21 minutes, Enzo Fernández scored the goal of the night with a brilliant free‑kick early in the second half. His celebration afterwards epitomised the response to recent criticism amid heavy Premier League defeats by Liverpool and Wolves.
Fernández earned the opportunity as, preparing to shoot at goal from 25 yards out, he was tripped by up by Youri Tielemans. The Argentina playmaker then posted his free-kick into the top corner of his compatriot’s goal, Emiliano Martínez managing to scratch the ball with his fingertips, to seal Chelsea’s second win in eight away games.
The 23-year-old, signed as a World Cup winner for £106.8m just over 12 months ago, has been such an emblem of Chelsea’s profligate spending in the Todd Boehly era that it has been hard to judge him as a young player adjusting to a new country and league. Rumours had emerged that he wanted to leave.
His reaction to the goal, however, as he took his shirt off to show his name to the celebrating away fans and point to the ground, emphasised his statement that he wants to stay.
Pochettino gave an impassioned defence of his player, and of his young team’s need to develop away from the shackles of the trophy-laden era of the previous two decades. “We need to move on,” he said.
“There’s no doubt he’s a world champion player. [But] when he signed one year ago, he arrived with nearly two years with no holidays, no rest, with the pressure, still young, of coming in a team that needs time. But [people need to] stop creating an expectation that does not match the reality and help a little bit the player that is here to try to build something. It does not surprise me; Enzo has the quality not only to score this type of goal but to perform like he performed.”
Stunningly, Chelsea were two goals ahead in an opening 21 minutes as stretched and thrilling as if it were the final 21. It was as shocking for the Chelsea fans as anyone else.
Belle Silva had posted a partial apology for her weekend tweet that “it’s time to change”. Pochettino said before the match: “I always pick my players based on performance and balance. That’s it.”
Villa spent the first half of this season bamboozling opponents with their superb movement going forwards, Ollie Watkins usually partnered by a wide player given licence to roam the channels in front of a midfield box four. But maybe opponents have worked them out. Certainly Pochettino found a way.
The Chelsea manager asked the recalled duo of Nicolas Jackson, on the left, and Noni Madueke to play high and wide, with Cole Palmer and Conor Gallagher operating as the most advanced central players. This prevented Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara dictating the tempo of the game, and allowed Chelsea to get out and beyond John McGinn and Tielemans.
In anticipation of their Carabao Cup final date with Liverpool this month, Chelsea fans were already singing “We’re all going to Wembley” as Kamara lost easy possession in midfield. Jackson probed menacingly down the left wing; when his cross-shot deflected, Madueke teed the ball back for Gallagher to sidefoot into the top corner from 12 yards.
Villa did not adapt, Madueke frequently getting away down the right, ably supported by Malo Gusto and where Àlex Moreno was enduring a nightmare, not aided by McGinn’s lack of comradeship.
Then Chelsea’s plan worked again, to deadly effect, with Madueke feeding Gusto down the gaping chasm of Villa’s left flank. His pinpoint centre invited Jackson to steer home an easy header for his ninth goal from 20 starts.
Unai Emery felt the quality of finishing was the main factor in the match. “I was more or less feeling the difference was the clinical way for them,” the Villa manager said. His sights now return to those top-four ambitions when they host Manchester United on Sunday.
