Chelsea continued the positive trend in the Premier League by beating Aston Villa 3-0 at Stamford Bridge Stadium, London, Saturday (11/9).
Lukaku’s two goals were enough to break the Stamford Bridge curse, after in 10 Premier League games he always failed to score at Chelsea.
With a star-studded squad, Chelsea managed to take the lead in the 15th minute thanks to a beautiful goal from Romelu Lukaku.
The Belgian striker first outwitted Axel Tuanzebe in the penalty box before beating goalkeeper Jed Steer with a close-range shot. The Blues lead 1-0.
Chelsea’s advantage was almost tarnished because of a blunder made by their new recruit, Saul. The mistake made by the Spanish midfielder made Chelsea get into trouble in the 17th minute.
Luckily Edouard Mendy performed brilliantly and managed to thwart Villa’s golden opportunity through Ollie Watkins’ low strike at the near post.
Saul made another mistake in the 23rd minute. Jacob Ramsey successfully snatched the ball from Saul Niguez in front of the penalty box directly thrust it to Watkins. Unfortunately, Watkins’ shot was blocked by Thiago Silva.
However, Chelsea’s goal remained safe from serious threats until the first half ended. The hosts were able to maintain a 1-0 advantage.
Entering the second half, Chelsea managed to widen the advantage to 2-0. This time it was Matteo Kovacic who managed to carve his name on the scoreboard after stealing a back pass from Tuanzebe before beating Jed Steer.
Aston Villa came close to finding the back of the net in the 73rd minute after Ollie Watkins had avoided Antonio Ruediger’s block. He put the ball in for Bertrand Traore to finish, but the shot was cleared over the bar by Thiago Silva.
Lukaku closed Chelsea’s fantastic 3-0 win with a powerful left-footed shot into the corner of the net using Cesar Azpilicueta’s pass.
This victory led Chelsea to second place in the Premier League standings with a collection of 10 points. Thomas Tuchel’s squad only lost in goal productivity to Man Utd who are at the top.
As for Aston Villa, they must be willing to be stuck in 12th place after being overtaken by Crystal Palace, who won the match early, according to the official Premier League website.
Chelsea will next host Russia’s Zenit St. Petersburg at Stamford Bridge for the Champions League clash on Tuesday next week. Chalsea will then travel to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League five days later.
Aston Villa next Saturday will host Everton at Villa Park in a bid to return to the winning ways that will be recorded in this season’s Premier League results.
