Jacob Steinberg was our man at Stamford Bridge tonight. His report has landed, and here it is. Thanks for reading this MBM!
FULL TIME: Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa
The scoreline doesn’t reflect the match, and on another day Villa could have had three goals themselves. But the hosts aren’t champions of Europe for nothing, and were simply more efficient in the clutch moments. Stamford Bridge rises to celebrate as their team go level on ten points with new leaders Manchester United. Villa remain 12th on four points but have many positives to take away from this, despite it all.
GOAL! Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa (Lukaku 90+3)
The game restarts, but Villa don’t. Azpilicueta makes off down the right and crosses low. Lukaku, on the left of the D, takes a touch before lashing a net-ripper into the top left!
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90 min +2: The first two of the four added minutes are taken up with attention for Jorginho, and a philosophical exchange between Dean Smith and the assistant referee.
90 min: McGinn is booked for a late slide on Jorginho. He gets plenty of the ball, but in too wholehearted a style for the referee’s liking. Targett gets one for complaining about the decision. McGinn can’t complain about the booking too much, but you can understand his annoyance given the referee’s unwillingness to book Chalobah for a similarly timed tackle on the Scottish international a few minutes ago.
88 min: Cash flings another throw in from the right. Azpilicueta eyebrows it away from danger.
86 min: Alonso is down getting treatment for ... well, nothing much. A good old-fashioned bit of clock management.
84 min: One corner leads to another, which leads to McGinn attempting the spectacular from 25 yards. Nope. Goal kick.
83 min: Mings shoots from distance. Deflected. Corner. Earlier in the move, McGinn had been crudely upended by Chalobah. The referee waved play on, and now he offers no censure. McGinn isn’t pleased with the lack of a yellow card. It is indeed a very strange decision.
82 min: Ziyech swipes wide from distance. Werner comes on for Hudson-Odoi.
80 min: Villa stream upfield, painting some pretty triangles. Watkins smoothly glides in from the left and aims a curler towards the top left-hand corner. Easy for Mendy.
79 min: Luiz is replaced by Nakamba.
78 min: Cash drives down the right and wins a Villa corner. McGinn whips it towards the near post. Mendy catches, then drops, but there’s nobody nearby in claret to prod home.
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77 min: After bursting out of defence, Chalobah is this close to sending Lukaku free down the middle with a sliderule pass. A couple of centimetres out, it’s intercepted.
75 min: Some pinball on the edge of the Villa box. Suddenly the ball breaks down the left channel for Alonso, who spins and lashes across the face of goal and out for a goal kick. Not far from the third.
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73 min: McGinn’s corner is met by Konsa, who heads straight at Mendy.
72 min: Watkins jinks down the right and rolls infield for Traore, who opens his body and looks to sidefoot into the top left. His effort is deflected away for yet another Villa corner.
71 min: Chelsea with more of the sting-drawing midfield possession.
69 min: Ings is replaced by Traore.
68 min: Kovacic, in the zone, barrels down the left and drifts infield. It’s a spectacular run, and Villa have been turned. But then he suddenly slips out of the zone when attempting to free Hudson-Odoi down the inside-right channel. It’s the simplest bit of all, but he clanks it straight at the nearest Villa player. The crowd groan. That could and should have been it.
66 min: Kovacic doesn’t get many, but he nearly chalks up a second of the day, latching onto a loose ball on the edge of the Villa box and whipping towards the top right. Not enough curl. Had it been on target, it was in, because Steer was never getting there.
64 min: Azpilicueta comes on for Havertz.
63 min: Chelsea take the sting out of the game with some sterile midfield pass-pass-passing.
61 min: The corner leads to nothing. Then Alonso is booked for giving Bailey some unacceptably close attention.
59 min: Bailey makes good down the right and drops a shoulder to beat Rudiger. He pulls back for Watkins, whose rising shot is deflected out for a corner. The crowd, meanwhile, stage a moment’s applause in memory of comic genius and Chelsea fan Sean Lock.
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58 min: Ziyech launches long and nearly releases Havertz down the middle. Just a little bit too much on the pass, allowing Steer to claim on the edge of his box.
56 min: Ramsey, impressive in the first half but a little quieter now, is replaced by Bailey.
55 min: Alonso fires a low cross in from the left that forces Mings to slice behind for a corner, dangerously close to his own net. The corner leads to a free kick out on the right, and Ziyech’s delivery easily claimed by Steer. Chelsea are after a third.
53 min: A set-to between McGinn and Rudiger, the former claiming he was fouled at the end of a determined run down the right, the latter accusing him of trying it on. Given their respective sizes, it wouldn’t be a fair fight, let’s be honest, so full marks to McGinn for not backing down. I’d have had my apology written out in triplicate.
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51 min: Havertz is sent into space down the left. He drags a shot across Steer and wide right of goal. Villa should at the very least have been level at half-time, probably ahead, but all of a sudden they’re two down and hanging on.
50 min: Dean Smith is currently mid-fume. It’s the most dangerous of fumes, the quiet, measured fume, eyes narrowed, slow breathing through the nose. Pity poor Mings after this game.
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GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Aston Villa (Kovacic 48)
... but it doesn’t look like it’s going to matter! Mings plays an appallingly short backpass down the Chelsea inside right. It’s never getting to Steer. Kovacic steals in and dinks a graceful first-time effort over the keeper and off the left-hand post. What a finish! What a mistake, but what a finish.
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47 min: Chelsea clear this one, but only after a brief game of head tennis. Ultimately they’re getting the job done, but Chelsea haven’t looked assured at the back at all this evening.
46 min: Villa are immediately on the front foot again, Luiz freeing Cash down the right. Cash wins a corner off Rudiger. Tuanzebe nearly converts it from six yards, but Mendy, attempting to punch clear, sends the ball out for a second corner on the left.
Chelsea get the second half underway. Unsurprisingly, given the frequency with which he shipped possession during that first half, Saul has been replaced by Jorginho.
Half-time entertainment.
HALF TIME: Chelsea 1-0 Aston Villa
Villa have dominated midfield and created the lion’s share of the chances, but Mendy has been inspired, and Lukaku clinical. Neither manager will be happy with the way that half of football panned out, albeit for very different reasons.
45 min +1: Rudiger has a dig from inside the centre circle. It nearly clears the hotel. Completely ludicrous, of course, but everyone enjoyed that.
45 min: McGinn whips it in. It’s half cleared. Ramsey shoots from distance. His unconvincing effort is easily blocked. There will be two extra minutes.
44 min: Another long Villa throw, Cash flinging it in from the right. Alonso is reduced to blootering clear with nobody up the pitch. Villa come back at Chelsea, Watkins spinning down the left before being flipped into the air by Saul. No booking for that, either. Free kick, though.
42 min: Ramsey sashays down the inside left and upon reaching the Chelsea box pearls a low shot goalwards. Mendy blocks, spills, then finally gathers.
41 min: McGinn sends Cash scampering into space down the right. Cash crosses deep. Watkins isn’t quite able to meet with a header at the far post. Had he managed to, rushing in at speed, that would have been one heck of a goal.
40 min: Ziyech cuts in from the right and lashes a rising shot towards the opposite corner. Steer reads it well and gathers.
38 min: Saul is well off the pace. He gives the ball away cheaply again, and Ings is able to run at Silva, who is forced into a crude obstruction. No booking, about which Mings and Ings say a few things. The referee indulges them awhile, but isn’t for turning. The resulting free kick is floated into a crowded box but easily ushered out of play for a goal kick by the Chelsea back line.
36 min: Villa have only enjoyed 39 percent of the possession ... but they’ve had 15 touches in the opposition box compared to Chelsea’s eight. Then again, the goal.
34 min: Now it’s the long throw causing havoc. The ball drops to Mings. Mendy parries his shot. Konsa tries to force the rebound home, but Mendy springs up to tip around the post. Nothing comes of the resulting corner, but Villa should be level. They’ve had their chances, and they’ve been the better team over the entire piece. Having said that, Mendy has been immense.
32 min: Chelsea are struggling under the long ball. Again they fail to clear their lines properly, and the ball ends up at the feet of Ings, whose turn it is to see a shot blocked by the frame of Silva.
30 min: Another free kick for Villa out on the left. Chelsea deal with McGinn’s delivery easily this time, but once again ship possession with uncharacteristic ease, McGinn having another go down the left flank and whipping dangerously into the mixer. Mendy claims in the assured style.
28 min: Mings is slightly aggrieved to pick up a yellow for a late slide on Hudson-Odoi. It was a foul for sure, but not a nailed-on yellow, the Chelsea man foxing Mings by cleverly cutting across him.
26 min: Back up the other end, and Luiz lashes over the bar from distance. This is a great game. Villa will wonder how they’re not level.
25 min: Kovacic dinks in from the right. Steer claims confidently under pressure from Lukaku.
23 min: ... but Villa come back again. McGinn steals a ball he had no right to win off Saul and feeds Watkins down the left. He enters the box and skips past the flailing Mendy, only to be denied by Silva’s outrageous John Terry style horizontal block. VAR checks for handball, but it was clearly off his chest.
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22 min: Ramsey’s mere presence causes Havertz to panic, his high kick conceding a free kick on the left. From the set piece, Konsa wins a header that causes havoc. Luiz thinks about shooting but is closed down on the edge of the D. Chelsea eventually swipe clear.
21 min: Ramsey, that ludicrous tug on Ziyech apart, has started impressively. Not for the first time, and you suspect not for the last, he burns down the inside-left channel, putting the Chelsea back line very much on the back foot. He slips wide for Watkins, who runs down a blind alley this time, but Chelsea are finding Villa a handful down this flank.
19 min: A corner on the left leads to one on the right. The second one, whipped fiercely towards the near post by McGinn, is punched clear by Mendy. That leads to some pinball, but that stops when the referee blows for a shove on the keeper. A good response by Villa.
18 min: Villa refuse to take it lying down. Watkins strides purposefully down the left channel, drifts infield, and fizzes forensically towards the bottom left. Mendy, at full stretch, fingertips around the post magnificently.
17 min: That was a lovely goal, expertly finished and brilliantly set up by some deep quarterbacking by Kovacic. A shame from Villa’s perspective, given how brightly they’d started.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Aston Villa (Lukaku 15)
This is a wonderful finish. Kovacic drops a shoulder and bursts into space down the middle. He then splits Villa with a pass down the inside-left channel for Lukaku, who has only Tuanzebe to beat. He does so by jinking inside, sending the defender off for the Evening Standard. One on one with Steer, he slams into the bottom left and wheels off in delight.
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13 min: Mings and Cash take their sweet time over a throw, forcing the referee to have a word. Nothing more, but they’re not to faff about again.
11 min: ... and breathe. Which everyone is able to do when Alonso goes down requiring treatment for a turned ankle.
9 min: This is great fun already. Chelsea win another corner on the left. Hudson-Odoi’s deep delivery looks like beating everyone and curling into the bottom right. Konsa sticks out a leg to clear and twangs the ball off the crossbar! Villa go up the other end, Ramsey having robbed the ball off Chalobah. Ings should send Ramsey clear but his pass down the inside-left channel is too strong.
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8 min: Ramsey is booked for a cynical yank of Ziyech’s arm. It could be a long afternoon for the midfielder now.
7 min: ... but Villa come straight back at the hosts, Watkins cutting in from the left, his curler deflected out for a corner. Nothing comes of the set piece, but it’s a bright start by Villa, too.
6 min: Villa are seeing plenty of the ball, having dealt with Chelsea’s fast start. Ramsey works his way down the inside-left channel and reaches the box. His dangerous low cross is hacked clear by Rudiger.
4 min: Free kick for Villa out on the left. Everyone lines up on the edge of the box. Targett sends it to the far post, where Konsa rises high and sends a header wide right. A nice open start to this game.
2 min: From the corner, it’s Alonso’s turn to take a wild flay at goal. Another corner, which leads to Tuanzebe’s last-ditch clearance, just as it looked like Lukaku would force home from close range.
1 min: Chelsea go straight up the other end, with Rudiger of all people romping down the left flank and winning a corner with a wild flay at goal.
The knee is met with applause at Stamford Bridge - black lives matter - then Aston Villa kick off. They launch long, and it’s a goal kick. Onwards and upwards.
The teams are out! Chelsea in blue, Aston Villa in claret. Not long now.
Insight gained by watching pre-match interviews with Thomas Tuchel and Dean Jones. Saul Niguez is ready; Danny Ings is a poacher with much more to his game; both managers are well up for it and are at pains to express their respect for the opposition.
Something pretty spectacular will have to happen at the Bridge this evening if this match is going to knock Cristiano Ronaldo off the back pages ... or get past that other two-goal debutant Odsonne Édouard, come to that ... but Chelsea can knock the new Premier League leaders Manchester United off the top. They’ll need to beat Villa by four goals this evening if they’re going to do that (or by three providing they score six, or if they’re happy for the places to be decided by alphabetical order, a 5-2 victory will do).
Saul Niguez makes his debut for Chelsea, one of six changes from their 1-1 draw at Liverpool. Callum Hudson-Odoi is deployed at right wing-back. Tyrone Mings captains Villa, who have Jed Steer starting between the sticks.
The teams
Chelsea: Mendy, Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Rudiger, Hudson-Odoi, Kovacic, Saul, Alonso, Ziyech, Havertz, Lukaku.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Christensen, Jorginho, Werner, Loftus-Cheek, Mount, Chilwell, Azpilicueta, Barkley.
Aston Villa: Steer, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Tuanzebe, Targett, Jacob Ramsey, Douglas Luiz, McGinn, Ings, Watkins.
Subs: Sanson, Traore, Young, Nakamba, El Ghazi, Hause, Bailey, Archer, Sinisalo.
Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire).
Preamble
European champions Chelsea have started the season strongly, with comfortable victories over Crystal Palace and Arsenal, and a ten-man draw at Liverpool that felt like a point made in more ways than one. They’ll be favourites to see off Aston Villa, who have got off to a middling start themselves – a win, a draw, a loss – but tonight will be without their two Emis, Martinez and Buendia, big losses both. Villa can take heart from the fact they drew 1-1 here at Stamford Bridge last December, and that historically this fixture has proved itself to be not wholly predictable: one four-season sequence back in the early 2010s reads 7-1, 3-3, 1-3, 8-0. More of that, please, or indeed anything in between. It’s on!
Kick off: 5.30pm BST.
