It is certainly not the best of times for Chelsea as they again dropped valuable points for the fourth time in their recent five Premier League outings
They were held to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge by in-form Aston Villa in their final match of year 2020.
The Blues’ albatross was Anwar El Ghazi, who continued his recent hot streak to seal a point for Villa. Chelsea have won just once in five league outings.
Frank Lampard, who was hoping for a response following their miserable 3-1 loss to Arsenal, dropped big-money signing Timo Werner amid a goal drought.
The changes in the team’s line-up did little to enhance the Blues’ fortunes as they were no more fluent against the impressive Dean Smith’s side.
Villa’s hopes of keeping five consecutive top-flight clean sheets for the first time since September 1998 however ended 34 minutes into the game when Olivier Giroud struck, to make it seven successive goal scoring appearances against the Villans in the Premier League for the Frenchman.
However, Anwar El Ghazi levelled with his fifth goal in as many games in the 50th minute and that proved decisive, while Chelsea were fortunate to not concede again when John McGinn hit the crossbar.
An entertaining start saw both sides threaten, Jack Grealish having a curling 18-yard effort turned wide by Edouard Mendy before Christian Pulisic lashed into the side-netting at the other end.
Another opportunity was spurned by Pulisic just past the half-hour, though two minutes later Chelsea had the lead – Giroud sending a thumping header in from Ben Chilwell’s inviting delivery.
Villa levelled early in the second half when Matty Cash’s cross found El Ghazi at the back post, and he steered home through the legs of Mendy, who probably should have done better.
Chelsea’s reaction was hardly emphatic and Villa went agonizingly close to a spectacular second, the ball breaking kindly for McGinn 30 yards from goal and his fierce effort cannoned off the bar.
Lampard introduced the much-maligned Werner and Kai Havertz towards the end, though neither inspired an improvement in Chelsea’s fortunes against a shrewd Villa backline.
What does it mean? Chelsea’s slide set to continue: Lampard’s hopes of mounting a credible title challenge are seemingly diminishing by the day – they could be nine points adrift of the summit by the time they next play.
To make matters worse, they have played more games than most teams around them and are showing few signs of improvement, with those big-money additions of Werner and Havertz still nowhere near the expected level.
At this rate, Chelsea will struggle to even finish in the top four, whereas Villa continue to upset the odds as they are now five unbeaten in the league.
So what is next on the card for the Stamford Bridge landlords? For now, they have a fairly substantial break until they return to action at home to Manchester City in a potentially thrilling encounter on Sunday. That is assuming the match is not postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Pep Guardiola’s ranks.
On their part, Villa have another tough task on New Year’s Day, as they go to Manchester United. – With Goal.com reports
