A double from Mason Mount helped Chelsea record their fifth consecutive victory in all competitions with a 2-0 success at Aston Villa.
Mount first pounced on an awful Tyrone Mings header to score the opener in the sixth minute before producing a swerving free kick from distance beyond Emiliano Martinez in the second half.
Villa exerted pressure on Chelsea between the two goals and could have drawn level had it not been for the inspired performance of Blues goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who produced an outstanding array of reflex saves to keep his side ahead.
The visitors were gifted the opener through a horrific Mings error. The England defender misjudged a header and nodded it straight into the path of Mount, who reached the ball before Martinez and guided it home.
That goal seemed to puncture Villa’s early buoyancy but the hosts roared back and Chelsea only had goalkeeper Arrizabalaga to thank as his goal was peppered with shots.
Leon Bailey missed a big chance to equalise as his header from John McGinn’s cross came back off the bar, while three saves in quick succession from Arrizabalaga denied McGinn, Danny Ings and Jacob Ramsey before an offside flag ended the chaos.
Ings looked to have headed in from point blank range, but the leaping Arrizabalaga somehow scrambled across his line to flap the ball over the bar and to safety.
Chelsea retained their threat, with Kai Havertz teeing up Raheem Sterling who saw his powerful strike bounce back off the crossbar.
Blues manager Graham Potter switched up his formation in the first half before bringing on Cesar Azpilicueta and Kalidou Koulibaly for the second period, with the visitors gifting Steven Gerrard’s side too many chances at the back.
Chelsea continued to absorb Villa’s pressure before a moment of inspiration from Mount gave them breathing space in the contest.
The midfielder sent a dipping and fizzing set piece over the wall, completely outfoxing Martinez who was deceived by the flight of the ball, to make it 2-0 and effectively kill off any hopes of a comeback from Villa.
The win takes Chelsea three points clear of Manchester United in fourth, while Villa remain out of form and down in 16th with nine points from ten games.
GK: Emiliano Martinez – 4/10 – Sold short by Mings for Chelsea’s opener. Deceived by Mount’s free kick and may well think he should have done better.
RB: Matty Cash – 5/10 – Lost the ball an awful lot while attempting some creative passes.
CB: Ezri Konsa – 5/10 – Wasn’t very authoritative in…
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