Chelsea vs Aston Villa: Post Match

Chelsea stormed to 3-0 victory over Aston Villa, creating a three point gap as leaders of the Premier League.

The Blues ran rampant on the midlands side with goals coming from Brazilians Oscar and Willian and from the Brazil born Spain International Diego Costa, with his eighth goal of the season.

The striker also assisted Willian to make it 3-0, continuing his marvelous start to an unbeaten campaign for Jose Mourinho’s side, who are looking every bit as good as their teamsheet would suggest.

Oscar, who came under some criticism for not taking enough of his chances recently, tapped in from close range after some wonderful work between Branislav Ivanovic and Willian on the right-hand side. Chelsea’s Serbian right-back played a well-weighted ball through to the Brazilian who decided to have a shot at goal, only for it to be saved by Brad Guzan. The follow up was collected by Willian, who cut the ball back for Oscar to score his first Premier League goal of the season.

Source: chelseafc.com

After numerous chances to head the ball into the net from close-range, Costa made it 2-0 with another header, after some fancy footwork between Willian and Hazard that lead to left-back Azpilicueta putting a cross in for the in-form striker.

Ex-Chelsea boss Ruud Gullit had this to say about Chelsea’s rich form:

“The difference with Chelsea this season is the work they do in getting the ball back. The first goal was a great goal and I love the second goal – they still find spaces. And when the opposition is going forward, they also have the possibility of going for a counter-attack. This is the Chelsea I love to see. It’s a Chelsea that’s hard to beat.”

Although the scoreline would suggest Chelsea had it easy, Villa did threaten the Chelsea goal with good efforts from England International Fabian Delph and Nathan Baker from an in-swinging set piece. However, the gaps in Villa’s defence, who were missing captain Ron Vlaar, allowed Chelsea to dominate possession and create chances from all angles.

Jose Mourinho will have been delighted to see his team keep a clean sheet, with the defence raising a few eyebrows since the start of the season, it will no doubt give the defence and new keeper, Thibaut Courtois, some much needed confidence.

Next up for Chelsea comes a mid-week Champions League fixture against Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon, who will be hoping Diego Costa’s recurring hamstring niggle will keep the striker out. Mourinho says he will assess Costa’s condition, and will not risk the striker’s fitness, with Chelsea hosting Arsenal next Saturday, a game that could prove to be crucial in the Blues’ ambitions to lift the Premier League trophy in May.