Another disappointing afternoon for Chelsea, as a red card and the continual failure to take chances cost them yet again.
A decent enough first half, Chelsea had a few good chances. Emilio Martinez in the Villa goal produced a good save from Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez also had a decent effort from the edge of the box but was just off target.
Axel Disasi did manage to head the ball in the Villa net shortly before half-time but was (correctly) adjudged offside.
Chelsea didn't have it all their own way though as Robert Sanchez made a couple of fine saves from Lucas Digne and Nicolo Zaniolo.
There was a bizarre incident at the end of the first half when the referee Jared Gillett (who will not be welcome back at Stamford Bridge any time soon) blew for half time on 47 minutes, when three minutes had been held up on the board.
Chelsea started the second half brightly and were the team in control but the game changed on 57 minutes. Malang Gusto went in for a tackle on Digne and after a lengthy VAR check, referee Gillett decided was worthy of a red card.
Villa had to wait til 72 minutes to take the lead, an effort by Ollie Watkins from a tight angle squeezing through Sanchez's legs.
Frustratingly, it wasn't even the case that with the man advantage Aston Villa dominated the play. Chelsea continued to make chances, most notably from substitutes Ben Chilwell and Cole Palmer but predictably failed to take any of them.
Tempting though it is to blame everything on the red card, really its Chelsea's inability to score that is catching them out.
In the calendar year of 2023, Chelsea have managed just 37 goals in all competitions. That record is simply not good enough at any level of the game. Especially not at Chelsea.
Line-Up: Sanchez, Gusto, Disasi, Silva, Colwill, Caicedo (Broja 79'), Gallagher, Sterling, Fernandez (Ugochukwu 67'), Mudryk (Chilwell 61'), Jackson (Palmer 67')
Unused Subs: Cucurella, Petrovic, Maatsen, Washington, Bergstrom
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