Chelsea 1-2 Aston Villa: Blues suffer comeback as super-sub Watkins nets brace

Super-sub Ollie Watkins struck twice as Aston Villa pulled off an incredible turnaround to beat Chelsea 2-1 as they boosted their title bid with a club-record equalling 11th win in a row.

Match Report

A festive matchup between two rivals for Champions League qualification was initially dominated by Chelsea, but a second-half fightback saw Villa boost their hopes of a surprise Premier League title push.

After Enzo Fernandez curled wide and Emiliano Martinez kept out Joao Pedro's flick before Chelsea hit the front in the 37th minute.

Reece James whipped in a delicious corner-kick from the left, and as Joao Pedro put Martinez under pressure on the line, the ball flicked in off the Brazilian's calf.

Chelsea continued to press after half-time, with John McGinn almost putting through his own net from Cole Palmer's centre, but the game changed when Unai Emery made a triple 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 equalised in the 63rd minute.

There was an element of fortune about that goal, as Sanchez blocked Watkins' shot but saw the ball ricochet back off the striker and squirm in.

The same could not be said of Watkins' winner, though, as he rose to meet Youri Tielemans' right-wing corner and plant a fine header into the bottom-left corner in the 84th minute.

Villa are now back within three points of leaders Arsenal, who they face in a huge game on Tuesday.

Data Debrief: Watkins flips the script

This truly was a game of two halves, as is illustrated by the statistics.

In the first half, Chelsea had 10 shots and racked up 1.98 expected goals (xG), while recording 28 touches in Villa's area. The visitors did not have a single shot and only had three touches in Chelsea's box.

But in the second period, Villa were comfortably the superior side when it came to shots (11 to four) and xG (1.05 to 0.16), while almost matching Chelsea for touches in the area (14 to 16).

Watkins is the second substitute to score a brace away at Chelsea in the Premier League this season, with Danny Welbeck also doing so for Brighton. This occurred just 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 were without a single Premier League victory (D3 L2). From matchday six onwards, the Villans, who have now reeled off 11 straight wins (matching a club record last achieved in 1914) have won more games (12) and more points (36) than any other side.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

3' Cole Palmer letting fly from the edge of the box and it flashes narrowly wide

5' Morgan Rogers has the ball at his feet but James makes a neat challenge

9' A late sliding challenge by Caicedo on Kamara earns Villa a free-kick

15' Rogers has just deliberately pushed Marc Cucurella to the ground in frustration

18' Garnacho lays it into the path of Enzo whose curling attempt drops just wide

21' Moises Caicedo and then Cole Palmer's shots are both blocked

24' Joao Pedro is denied by Emi Martínez as Chelsea continue to pile on the pressure

30' Cash lunges in on Garnacho and sees yellow card

34' James has an attempt and it flashes wide of Emi Martinez's post

37' GOAL! Pedro opens the scoring from James' corner! Chelsea 1-0 Aston Villa

47' Chelsea want a penalty as the ball appears to strike Maatsen on hand but no pen

52' Morgan Rogers has a shot and wins the visitors a corner

55' James with an ambitious curling attempt which has Martinez clawing it away

61' A chance for Kamara but Robert Sánchez makes a great save

63' GOAL! Super sub Watkins equalizes for visitors! Chelsea 1-1 Aston Villa

66' A huge chance for Maatsen inside the box but Robert Sanchez shovels it away

69' Gusto, Delap and Gittens come on to replace Cucurella, Garnacho & Joao Pedro

72' Cole Palmer does not look happy as he is replaced by Estevao

84' GOAL! Watkins heads home to turn it around! Chelsea 1-2 Aston Villa

Line-ups

Chelsea XI: Cucurella, Trevoh Chalobah, Reece James, Robert Sánchez, Pedro Neto, Badiashile, Cole Palmer, João Pedro, Enzo, Caicedo, Garnacho

Subs: Adarabioyo, Wesley Fofana, Jørgensen, Gusto, Liam Delap, Gittens, Andrey Santos, Josh Acheampong, Estêvão

Aston Villa XI: E. Martinez, Lindelof, McGinn, Tielemans, Buendia, Kamara, Ngoyo, Matty Cash, Malen, Morgan Rogers, Maatsen

Subs: Marco Bizot, Digne, Ollie Watkins, Sancho, Amadou Onana, Lamare Bogarde, Andrés García, Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba, George Hemmings