Chelsea's poor start to the Premier League season continued as Ollie Watkins' fine strike saw Aston Villa to a 1-0 win against the 10-player Blues.
2023/2024 Premier League
0-1
Match Reports
It is the first time Villa have beaten Chelsea in back-to-back league games in 30 years, while Mauricio Pochettino's side have made their worst start to a top-flight season after the opening six games since 1978/79.
But as has often been the case this season, Chelsea had their chances to score, with Emiliano Martinez making a string of fine saves, but were once again unable to find the net. They have now failed to score in their last three Premier League matches.
Aston Villa too had a raft of chances, but eventually made one count when Watkins (73) fired home on the tightest of angles after a fine break with Moussa Diaby.
It came 15 minutes after Malo Gusto was shown a straight red card. It was initially a yellow after a crunching challenge on Lucas Digne, but upgraded by referee Jarred Gillett after he consulted the pitchside monitor.
The result sees Chelsea languishing in 14th place with just five points this season. Aston Villa, meanwhile, showed no signs of fatigue from their midweek return to European football and move into sixth, just two points off the top four.
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
5' Caicedo's long shot stopped
19' Digne's long shot stopped
24' CLOSE! Jackson's shot stopped
35' Enzo's shot wide out
39' Sanchez makes good save
43' OFFSIDE! Disasi's goal disallowed
47' Sterling's shot stopped
49' Jackson's header wide out
53' CHANCE! Sterling's shot stopped
58' Red Card! Malo Gusto sent off
70' Diaby's shot wide out
73' GOAL! Chelsea 0-1 Aston Villa (Ollie Watkins)
80' Diaby's shot stopped aigin
Line-ups
Chelsea XI: Thiago Silva, Sterling, Axel Disasi, Robert Sánchez, Conor Gallagher, Mykhaylo Mudryk, Enzo Fernández, Moisés Caicedo, Levi Colwill, Malo Gusto, Nicolas Jackson
Subs: Marc Cucurella, Chilwell, Djordje Petrovic, Cole Palmer, Maatsen, Armando Broja, Lucas Bergström, L. Ugochukwu, Deivid Washington·De Souza Eugenio
Aston Villa XI: E. Martinez, Digne, McGinn, Ollie Watkins, P. Torres, Kamara, Ngoyo, Matty Cash, Douglas Luiz, Zaniolo, Diaby
Subs: R. Olsen, Dendoncker, Lenglet, Chambers, Tielemans, Bailey, Jhon Durán, Jacob Ramsey, Omari Kellyman