Two goals in two minutes boosted Chelsea’s chances of a top-four finish and punctured Aston Villa’s dwindling survival hopes. Villa glimpsed a precious and improbable victory against a clearly superior team when Kortney Hause gave them a surprising lead just before half-time. But that prize soon vanished amid a rapid-fire salvo from Christian Pulisic and Olivier Giroud. Once they had edged in front, Chelsea never looked like being caught.
Frank Lampard hopes the same stays true of the race for Champions League qualification, where his fourth-placed team now enjoy a five-point lead over Manchester United and Wolves. Villa remain stragglers in second-bottom. Their fixture list is daunting and if they are to clamber out of trouble they will need players such as Jack Grealish and John McGinn to exert much more influence than they were able to show here.
Written by Paul Doyle at Villa Park
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jun/21/aston-villa-chelsea-premier-league-match-report under the title “Giroud completes Chelsea turnaround at Aston Villa to bolster top-four spot”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
