Villa got off to a decent start to the game and Chelsea fell behind on several tackles in the opening minutes. Eventually we got the ball and gained some possession, only to have all eleven Villa players hit in their own defensive third.

Nevertheless, we were able to create a few chances and took the lead with the first of them: Cucurella came on the ball to win the ball, got it back from Jadon Sancho and pushed the ball across the penalty area for Nicolas Jackson to get into the goal and He skilfully finishes the ball with his left and kisses it from the inside of the near post.

We continued our positive play, exerting solid control of the game and generating several more chances, either through possession or through high pressing. The latter almost gave Jackson a second goal – Martínez saved his own terrible pass with a desperate dive, but ended up injuring himself in the process.

A few minutes later, a great move in the middle led to a nice shot from Enzo from the top of the box, doubling our lead.

Villa got a few looks on the counterattack or through a few mistakes in defense in the first half, Robert Sánchez made a few excellent saves to preserve our lead.

The second half was a similar story but we failed to take advantage of several opportunities to finish the game – Jackson and Palmer were both guilty of failing to take more than presentable chances.

Luckily this wastefulness didn’t hurt us and then Palmer closed the goal completely with a fantastic shot into the top corner.

Great goal, great game, great win!

Carefree.

• Three changes from last weekend: Lavia, Neto and Sancho were added and Badiashile, Félix and Madueke were eliminated
• There are also a few small wrinkles in the formation: Caicedo, the nominal right-back, rotates into midfield to push Enzo forward alongside Palmer in possession; also Neto on the right and Sancho on the left.
• Another goal for Nico; another goal for Palmer – both making it 8 in the league
• Enzo scores for the second time in a row
• Cucurella, Palmer, Madueke with the assists
• Fofana injury (hamstring) is a concern
• Nice reception for the return of Ross Barkley
• Six are now unbeaten and move back up to third, at least for now, level with Arsenal on points, goals and goal difference
• KTBFFH

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