Chelsea returned to victory by winning on the lawn of Aston Villa (3-1) this Sunday, during Boxing Day. Kick-off substitute Romelu Lukaku was decisive for the first time since September in the Premier League.
With two birds with one stone, Chelsea resumed its march forward and got it right with Boxing Day. After the boxes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham a little earlier this Sunday, Boxing Day offered us an enticing Aston Villa-Chelsea as an aperitif on Boxing Day. In the cold of Birmingham, the 22 actors delivered a match initially sad then one-sided, finally logically won by the Blues (3-1). It did not take long for the collective Chelsea machine, with Thiago Silva and N’Golo Kanté but without Romelu Lukaku (on the bench), to (timidly) get into place. Unsurprisingly, Thomas Tuchel’s men have certainly taken the game into account, facing those of Steven Gerrard (positive for Covid-19) more compact behind and ready to explode against.
But the Villans, deprived of John McGinn but with Morgan Sanson for the first time in the XI since last April, also left little room for Chelsea. All offering a rather disappointing start to the match. If a Mason Mount center shot crashed on the top of Emiliano Martinez’s crossbar (25th), another one was needed, signed Matt Targett and deflected by Reece James in his own goals, to allow the table to display to move (1-0, 28th). The Blues, for their part, had the good idea to react quickly, Callum Hudson-Odoi pushing a naive Matty Cash to fault in his area, so that Jorginho put the counters tied (1-1, 34th).
Lukaku, super-sub
Apart from that, if not a very good exit from Édouard Mendy far from his cages (40th), there was not much to eat before the break. A fact forcing Tuchel to launch Lukaku in place of Trevoh Chalobah after returning from the locker room to change the face of his team. A choice that quickly paid off because it was the Belgian, with a nice cross header on a Hudson-Oidoi cross, who allowed Chelsea to take the advantage (1-2, 56th), scoring in passing the 9th goal of his career against Villa, he who had not scored since September 11, already against the Birmingham club. As stunned by this quick goal, the Villans were unable to react and annoy the more enterprising and confident Blues, as they did in the first act. On its rare highlights, Aston Villa did not really worry Édouard Mendy in the second act. On the penalty spot, again, Jorginho even got his double at the end of the game, taking advantage of an enormous work of the physical monster that is Romelu Lukaku having been mown in the middle of the race by a helpless Ezri Konsa (1-3, 90th + 3).
The final score would have even more to be heavier for them if Hudson-Odoi had been more skilful (52nd, 88th) and that Mount had not missed the frame vis-a-vis the empty goal after having erased Martinez (66th). After 2 draws in a row, Chelsea, who had also won only 2 of their last 6 league games, thus found their way back to success in the Premier League, regaining a 6 point lead over Arsenal (4th). The residents of Stamford Bridge also regained victory during Boxing Day after two defeats in 2019 and 2020. Thomas Tuchel may however regret the premature exit of Thiago Silva (52nd) before receiving Brighton on Wednesday. For its part, Aston Villa confirms its difficulties against the big pieces of the PL. Steven Gerrard concedes his third defeat on the Villans bench, the third against a formation on the podium (after Man City and Liverpool).
