Chelsea’s stuttering start to the Premier League season took another turn for the worse as Aston Villa piled more misery on the 10-man Blues with victory at Stamford Bridge.
Ollie Watkins fired home an unerring winner between the legs of Robert Sanchez from an incredibly tight angle as Villa capitalised on Malo Gusto’s dismissal for dangerous play.
Mauricio Pochettino’s hosts fashioned plenty of chances before Gusto’s red card for a poorly-timed tackle that caught Lucas Digne on the ankle but, as so often this season, failed to take any of them.
Nicolas Jackson and Raheem Sterling were both denied one-on-one by excellent Emiliano Martinez saves while Enzo Fernandez sliced another glorious opportunity wide.
Chelsea had been equally indebted to their own goalkeeper as Sanchez made a pair of flying fingertip saves to thwart beautifully-struck volleys by Digne and Nicolo Zaniolo.
There were chances at both ends even after Gusto was sent off but Villa, who climb to sixth, took one of theirs via Watkins, while Chelsea failed to score for a third successive game to stay 14th.
More headaches for Pochettino
Chelsea’s only wins in their seven games under Pochettino have come against Luton and AFC Wimbledon and the injury-hit Blues will be cursing their luck after a second successive home defeat.
They will feel Villa’s winner was a tad fortunate as Levi Colwill did brilliantly to block Watkins’ initial effort but the ball ricocheted kindly for the striker to squeeze home a fine finish at the second attempt.
An Axel Disasi header narrowly ruled out for offside at the end of the first half will add to the Blues’ belief that little is going their way – but they are hardly helping themselves either.
Gusto’s red-card challenge was not malicious but it was ill-judged and was always going to be upgraded from yellow when the video assistant referee intervened, while the Blues’ finishing was once again simply not up to scratch.
Admittedly, Martinez did excellently to win his one-on-one duels with Jackson, Sterling and, later, substitute Ben Chilwell, but Chelsea should have converted at least one of those chances.
And to add to Pochettino’s headaches, with about a dozen players out injured, Jackson will join the suspended Gusto on the sidelines for their next game after collecting a fifth booking in just six matches.
