Chelsea controlled large periods at Stamford Bridge but squandered that superiority and suffered a damaging late defeat, losing 2-1 to Aston Villa. The hosts led from a 37th-minute corner that Reece James delivered into a crowded six-yard box; the ball deflected off Jo\u00e3o Pedro and into the net. Robert S\u00e1nchez had been largely untroubled before the break but produced a number of important saves and collected set-pieces with assurance.<\/p>\n
The match turned after the hour when Ollie Watkins was introduced by Unai Emery. His first effort was saved by S\u00e1nchez but the rebound struck Watkins and went in to level the score just after the hour mark. Villa then completed the comeback in the final ten minutes when Watkins rose to power a header from a corner into the net.<\/p>\n
The result extended Villa\u2019s winning run to 11 in a row, a new club record, and marked a seventh straight Premier League victory. For Chelsea it deepened a stirring reversal of form; the Blues have won one of their last six league matches and now sit fifth.<\/p>\n
Individual performances reflected the game\u2019s arc. Reece James was the standout, his inversion into midfield and precise distribution among the most influential aspects of Chelsea\u2019s opening 60 minutes. Jo\u00e3o Pedro led the press effectively, generated dangerous turnovers and was rewarded with the opening goal. Robert S\u00e1nchez was credited with several saves but could not prevent the rebound that led to the equaliser. Beno\u00eet Badiashile had been solid before a careless giveaway that contributed to Villa\u2019s levelling goal. Marc Cucurella had been one of Chelsea\u2019s better players but was substituted in the second half, with his replacement failing to make the same impact.<\/p>\n
Chelsea created chances and dominated possession for long periods but failed to extend their lead. After conceding the equaliser they lost control, offered little in response and were unable to fashion a clear chance to force another draw. The final whistle confirmed a dramatic second-half collapse that will have consequences for the remainder of their league campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chelsea dominated possession but collapsed after 60 minutes as Watkins struck twice to win. at home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5433,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[711,190,172],"tags":[1089,319,1307],"class_list":["post-5434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aston-villa","category-chelsea","category-epl","tag-chelsea-struggles","tag-cole-palmer","tag-collapse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}