Mauricio Pochettino could be set for Tottenham repeat at Chelsea after Aston Villa masterclass
Wednesday evening's 3-1 win over Aston Villa in the fourth round of the FA Cup could prove to be a turning point in Chelsea's 2023/24 season. It could also prove to be a major turning point in Mauricio Pochettino's Chelsea career.
On the back of a extremely disappointing 4-2 defeat at home to Wolves a matter of days after their 4-1 humbling at Liverpool, the Chelsea boss was under intense pressure heading to the Midlands. Many had even predicted that the game against Aston Villa could be his last as head coach had they tasted defeat.
Going on Villa's excellent home record this term under Unai Emery, not many people could have predicted what was to unfold on Wednesday night. Going two goals to the good inside the first 21 minutes after Conor Gallagher and Nicolas Jackson shocked the home faithful, Enzo Fernandez put the result beyond any doubt nine minutes after half-time with a stunning free-kick.
Moussa Diaby was to pull one back for the hosts in stoppage time but it was scant consolation for Aston Villa. Desperately needing that win in his quest to turn around his Chelsea career, the game drew similarities with one at Villa Park in 2014 during the first few months of Pochettino's Tottenham tenure.
Having won three of his first nine league fixtures, the Argentine's job was on the line and defeat would very likely have seen him depart north London a matter of months after swapping Southampton for Spurs. Trailing 1-0 following Andreas Weimann's opener and with the boss in such a precarious position, there was to be a late twist in the tale with Nacer Chadli equalising in the 84th minute and Harry Kane scoring a deflected free-kick with the final kick of the game.
Speaking in September 2017, Pochettino admitted that the
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