Ollie Watkins came off the bench to score twice as Aston Villa recovered from behind to claim a stunning 2-1 victory over Chelsea.
A celebratory clash between two rivals for Champions League qualification was initially dominated by Chelsea, but a second-half battle saw Villa boost their hopes of a surprise Premier League title.
After Enzo Fernandez curled wide and Emiliano Martinez kept out Joao Pedro’s ball before Chelsea went in front in the 37th minute.
Reece James scored a delightful corner from the left, and when Joao Pedro put pressure on Martinez on the line, the ball curled in off the Brazilian’s calf.
Chelsea continued to apply the pressure after half-time, with John McGinn almost firing through his own net from Cole Palmer’s centre, but the game changed when Unai Emery made a three-way substitution in the 58th minute.
Watkins was one of the players introduced, and after teeing up Boubacar Kamara for a chance that was smothered by Robert Sanchez, he equalized in the 63rd minute.
There was an element of luck in that goal, as Sánchez blocked Watkins’ shot, only to see the ball bounce off the striker and curl inwards.
The same couldn’t be said for Watkins’ winner, however, as he rose to meet Youri Tielemans’ right corner and planted a fine header into the bottom left corner in the 84th minute.
Villa are now back within three points of leaders Arsenal, against whom they have a big game on Tuesday.
Data Debrief: Watkins flips the script
This was truly a game of two halves, as the statistics show.
In the first half, Chelsea scored ten shots and scored 1.98 expected goals (xG), while registering 28 touches in Villa’s area. The visitors did not have a single shot and only three touches in Chelsea’s penalty area.
But in the second period Villa were comfortably the superior side in terms of shots (11 to four) and xG (1.05 to 0.16), while almost matching Chelsea in terms of touches in the area (14 to 16).
Watkins is the second substitute to score one goal for Chelsea in the Premier League this season, with Danny Welbeck also doing the same for Brighton. This only happened once between 1992-93 and 2024-25 (Callum Robinson for West Brom in April 2021).
At the end of matchday five, Villa were 18th in the table and had not recorded a single Premier League victory (D3 L2). As of matchday six, the Villans, who have now achieved eleven consecutive wins (equaling a club record last set in 1914), have won more games (12) and more points (36) than any other side.
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