Chelsea struggles continue with defeat against Aston Villa

Chelsea suffered their third defeat of the season with a 1-0 loss at the Stamford Bridge to Aston Villa.

The Blues were reduced to ten men after Malo Gusto saw red in the second-half, but profligacy was the greater undoing of Mauricio Pochettino's side.

Chelsea played for the first time since their draw against Bournemouth last week as they do not have European fixtures to finish given their league finish from last season.

They seem doomed for a similar finish this campaign given their poor results so far which continued today against an epileptic Villa side.

The Blues had a peppy start to the game, camping the visitors in their half of the pitch, and creating chances, however, poor finishing, which has been a recurring theme of their campaign was the order of the day.

Axel Disasi thought he got the breakthrough when he scored, but the goal was ruled out upon VAR review for an offside infringement.

Chelsea continued to spurn chances upon returning from half-time break, and in the 56th minute of the game, they suffered a numerical disadvantage, and Malo Gusto saw red for a reckless tackle.

Villa capitalised, and in the 73rd minute, Ollie Watkins punished, finishing off a sweeping team move to give the visitors the lead. Emery’s men pushed to increase their advantage, but Robert Sanchez’s heroics kept the scoreline a modest 1-0.