Aston Villa’s Watkins piles misery on struggling Chelsea after Gusto’s red card

In the final reckoning it was easier for Chelsea to talk about misfortune in front of goal and rage at a referee who played only two of the allotted three minutes at the end of the first half. Mauricio Pochettino could argue his spluttering side’s second consecutive defeat at an increasingly irate Stamford Bridge would have been avoided had Jarred Gillett not dismissed Malo Gusto for a risky challenge on Lucas Digne early in the second half, handing Aston Villa the chance to take control of a game that had threatened to run away from them at times.

Yet the problem with blaming the officials is that Chelsea are no longer in the habit of making their own luck. It was no surprise to see them miss clear chances when they were on top and repeatedly make bad decisions in the final third. Pochettino’s side have scored five times in six league games and this match was heading only one way once Chelsea were down to 10 men. Ollie Watkins, with his first goal of the season, gave Villa victory via a cool finish with 17 minutes left.

For all Pochettino’s recent talk about trusting in the process, it seemed Chelsea would benefit from having a week to prepare for this game. Villa were leggy after losing at Legia Warsaw in the Europa Conference League on Thursday and Unai Emery was soon raging at his side’s carelessness in possession.

Sensing that their opponents were there for the taking, Chelsea seized the initiative, with Conor Gallagher offering energy in midfield, Raheem Sterling causing problems on the right and Mykhailo Mudryk in effervescent form on the left. The Ukrainian is yet to hit his stride since leaving Shakhtar Donetsk in January, but the first 45 minutes were surely Mudryk’s best in a blue shirt. The winger was full of positive intent on the ball, repeatedly testing Matty Cash, and should have gone in at half-time with at least one assist to his name.

Of the standout contributions from Mudryk, there was the moment when he tore beyond Cash and his fizzing cross just evade Enzo Fernández at the far post. Even better was when the Ukrainian cut inside, looked to the right and instead cut Villa open with a beautiful reverse pass to Nicolas Jackson. It would have been a beautiful goal, but then this is Chelsea. Jackson’s shot was too close to Emi Martínez and the Villa goalkeeper turned the ball wide.

Shoddy finishing remained Chelsea’s achilles heel. Gusto surged past Digne and found Fernández, who pulled the right-back’s cut-back off target. Sterling kept getting in on the right, only to rush the final pass, and Jackson was having trouble with his attempts to stay onside.

The frustration for Chelsea was that Villa’s attempts to play a high line were far from convincing. Pau Torres was forced into a crucial recovery tackle on Sterling and Boubacar Kamara had to stop a dangerous surge from Jackson.

That said, Chelsea did not have it all their own way. There were times when Villa flickered into life, even with Nicolò Zaniolo a lightweight presence on the left and Watkins isolated up front. Only the excellence of Chelsea’s goalkeeper, Robert Sánchez, in saving stunning volleys from Digne and Zaniolo prevented Emery’s side from stealing the lead.

Chelsea, who saw Axel Disasi have a header disallowed for offside, did not deserve to trail. They pushed at the start of the second half and Sterling continued to target Digne, running beyond the left-back and forcing Martínez to make a sprawling save.

For all their youthful promise, though, there is a naivety to Chelsea. Jackson was supposed to be on his best behaviour after being told by Pochettino to stop talking back to referees, having already picked up four bookings for dissent this season. The 22-year-old would proceed to let his manager down, earning a yellow card when he impeded a Villa free-kick, and will be banned for next week’s trip to Fulham.

Worse was to follow when Gusto attempted to win a 50-50 a few minutes later. The commitment could not be faulted but the defender was too high and forceful when he slid into a scissor challenge on Digne. It was not a surprise when the VAR, Andrew Madley, advised Gillett to upgrade Gusto’s booking to a red, even if the home fans screamed injustice when they saw the incident that reduced their side to 10 men replayed on the big screens.

There was no time for Pochettino to complain. He immediately made a defensive change, Mudryk unfortunate to make way for Ben Chilwell, Disasi moving from central defence to right-back. For a while it seemed Chelsea were comfortable as they sat back and restricted Villa to hopeful efforts from Cash and Moussa Diaby.

Chelsea still had a threat on the break and there was almost a goal for the substitute, Cole Palmer. But then everything broke down when Villa cleared the subsequent corner. John McGinn found Diaby and the winger was able to release Watkins after a slip from the increasingly suspect Thiago Silva.

It was the first time that Watkins had room. He ran at Levi Colwill, now playing in central defence after starting at left-back, and the defender blocked his initial shot. No matter. Watkins simply regained possession, made space again and sent an angled drive low to Sánchez’s right.

How Chelsea could have done with that efficiency. They immediately chased an equaliser, Martínez denying Chilwell, but there was little cohesion to their efforts. Even 11 minutes of added time was not enough for the team who have spent £1bn to sit in 14th place.