Watkins makes history as Villa silence Chelsea at Stamford Bridge

Mueez Ajao

– Aston Villa manager Unai Emery masterminded another victory away from home with a composed display against Chelsea to increase pressure on Blues boss Graham Potter.

– Ollie Watkins opened the scoring from a Marc Cucurella blunder at Stamford Bridge, latching on to the Chelsea defender’s backwards header to poke home, before John McGinn’s second-half rocket put the game out of reach for the home side.

– It was a familiar tale for Chelsea, who squandered chance after chance as Villa exploited their weakness on the counter-attack.

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– It is the Villans fifth win on the road since Emery took over in October and means they have now picked up 16 points away from home, a tally equalled only by Manchester City in that time.

– All 10 of Chelsea’s victories this season have come against bottom-half opposition but this loss means they drop into 11th themselves while Villa move up to ninth, one point off Liverpool in eighth.