Chelsea came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Aston Villa on Saturday and nearly won it late on. The Blues were down and out at half-time but rallied after the break to turn the game around. The result leaves Chelsea one point adrift of West Ham in 8th while Villa are seven clear of 5th-placed Tottenham.
Noni Madueke halved the deficit after the hour mark while Conor Gallaher sealed the comeback after 80 minutes. Chelsea even had the ball in the net for a 3-2 win at the death before VAR ruled it out.
Chelsea got off to an awful start
Villa opened the scoring after three minutes from a Marc Cucurella own goal. A Lucas Digne cutback found John McGinn whose side-footed effort deflected off Cucurella and into the net. It was a sloppy goal for Chelsea to concede, but they only had their poor marking to blame.
Chelsea nearly responded through Nicolas Jackson, but his header struck the post. Cucurella whipped in a cross from the left that Jackson reached but couldn’t steer on target. Villa would go on to make Chelsea pay for the missed opportunity, scoring through Morgan Rogers before half-time.
Matty Cash tried to find Leon Bailey, but the pass was cut out by Cucurella. Moussa Diaby picked up the loose ball but had his pass intercepted by Cucurella too. Cash picked up the ball and fed Rodgers, who cut inside and fired into the bottom corner for 2-0.
Chelsea should have won in the second half
Chelsea responded brilliantly after the break and halved the deficit through Madueke. Chelsea pressed Villa and forced an error from Douglas Luiz, resulting in Cole Palmer gathering the ball in the area. He tried to feed Conor Gallagher who was tripped in the box and the ball found Madueke in space. He slotted under Robin Olsen for 2-1.
Villa still carried a threat through Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins, but Djordje Petrovic was equal to it. Chelsea made Villa pay in the 81st minute, with Gallagher scoring a brilliant goal. He curled an effort from distance into the top corner for 2-2. Chelsea weren’t done there either…
Axel Disasi thought he’d won the game for Chelsea with a close-range header, but VAR ruled it out. In the build-up, Benoit Badiashile was adjudged to have fouled Diego Carlos while challenging for a header. It was a controversial decision and robbed Chelsea of all three points.
Nevertheless, Mauricio Pochettino will be proud that his players got Chelsea back into the game.
