Aston Villa 1-4 Chelsea: Report, result and goals as Pedro hat-trick sends Blues fifth

Chelsea moved up to fifth in the Premier League as a Joao Pedro hat-trick inspired them to a hugely impressive 4-1 win at Aston Villa.

Villa were desperate to bounce back from their humbling loss to bottom side Wolves last time out, and Douglas Luiz’s clever finish gave them a second-minute lead.

Yet Chelsea, with the chance to leapfrog Wolves following their stunning defeat at Molineux, fought back brilliantly, Pedro restoring parity in the 35th minute before Ollie Watkins had a goal ruled out for offside.

Pedro completed the turnaround by finishing off another intricate move in the sixth minute of first-half stoppage time.

Pedro was involved again as Cole Palmer lashed in Chelsea’s third 10 minutes into the second half, and the Brazilian completed his first Premier League hat-trick nine minutes later.

The victory is a huge boost to Chelsea’s Champions League hopes, as it leaves them three points behind Villa, who may be grateful for an upcoming weekend off amid an alarming slump in form.

Pedro inspires Chelsea rout

Villa’s opener with their first shot of the game as they punished sloppy defending from Chelsea, Lean Bailey getting to the right byline before pulling the ball back into the box, where Ollie Watkins intelligently dummied to allow Luiz to convert with a deft flick.

Chelsea’s response was swift and positive, with Joao Pedro seeing a far-post header brilliantly kept out by Emi Martinez before Reece James had a penalty appeal correctly waved away.

Martinez made another strong save to thwart Palmer, who then somehow managed to squander a one-on-one situation before Watkins did the same at the other end, firing straight at Filip Jorgensen, who replaced Robert Sanchez in the Chelsea goal.

Jorgensen was required to turn behind a more threatening effort from Watkins on the half-hour mark, and only his reflexes prevented Morgan Rogers from capping a fine Villa counter with their second goal.

And his efforts in keeping the deficit at one were rewarded as Pedro drew Chelsea level.

Villa were undone by a brilliant ball over the top from Enzo Fernandez to find Malo Gusto, who squared to give Pedro the simplest of finishes from point-blank range.

Watkins appeared to have restored Villa’s lead when he rifled in from Rogers’ pass after Chelsea were once again caught on the counter. However, VAR ruled he had strayed marginally offside.

Chelsea made the most of that let-off, and the circumstances around the Blues’ second were painful for Villa, as Pedro managed to stay just onside as he latched on to Fernandez’s clever pass before lifting the ball over Martinez.

Liam Rosenior’s carried their momentum into the second half, and they gave themselves breathing space as Palmer took advantage of bizarre goalkeeping from Martinez, who parried Reece James’ right-wing delivery straight into his path to tee him up for a rasping low finish.

Watkins wasted another gilt-edged opportunity as he took too long after initially going round Jorgensen, and his profligacy was punished as Pedro capped off his treble with another simple finish to convert Alejandro Garnacho’s low cross.

Only a sharp save from Martinez prevented Garnacho from making it five and, though Villa did threaten late as Tammy Abraham struck the bar late on, the empty seats at full-time spoke volumes about the direction of Unai Emery’s men, who are now looking nervously over their shoulders having dreamt of winning the title earlier in the campaign.