Chelsea respond to pressure with a dominant FA Cup victory at Aston Villa
Aston Villa 1 Chelsea 3
Chelsea stunned Aston Villa with a 3-1 win to march on in the FA Cup and ease the pressure on Mauricio Pochettino.
Enzo Fernandez’s sensational free-kick added to first-half goals from Conor Gallagher and Nicolas Jackson.
Moussa Diaby’s injury-time strike failed to ruin Chelsea’s night and the Blues now host Leeds in the fifth round.
Having been humbled 4-2 by Wolves and thumped 4-1 by Liverpool in their two previous games there was an expectation Chelsea would lurch further into crisis in their fourth-round replay at Villa Park.
Instead, while fans sung for former owner Roman Abramovich, their side rolled back the years with a dominant performance akin to those during the Russian’s reign.
With progress in the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool to come at the end of the month, despite a wretched Premier League campaign Chelsea could still salvage success.
For Villa, Unai Emery had already labelled this week – with Manchester United visiting on Sunday – as crucial to their hopes as they challenge for the top four.
But with a second straight home defeat – coming after inconsistent home displays against Sheffield United and Burnley – there will be rightful questions over Villa’s staying power.
Initially, the hosts listened to the manager’s words and there were alarm bells for Chelsea in the opening three minutes when John McGinn roughed up Axel Disasi before Alex Moreno fluffed his lines.
Half chances for Cole Palmer and Fernandez hardly hinted at what was to come and it took just 10 minutes for the Chelsea fans to chant Abramovich’s name – yet a minute later the visitors struck.
Jackson teased his way into the area to find Noni Madueke, a constant bright spark for the visitors, and
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