Result: Aston Villa 1-2 Chelsea
Date: 21 June 2020
Venue: Villa Park
Chelsea rallied from behind to defeat a spirited Aston Villa side and moved five points clear of Manchester United in fourth spot on Sunday evening.
The Blues welcomed Ruben Loftus-Cheek back from a long-term injury, with N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Andreas Christensen among the four changes while Villa were unchanged.
The visitors had a bright start but their first chance arrived in the 21st minute after Mason Mount unleashed a strike from 25-yards that forced Villa shot-stopper Orjan Nyland into fine save.
Frank Lampard's charges came close again to breaking the deadlock on the half-hour mark after Willian worked his magic on the byline to deliver a low square pass that agonisingly missed all the on-rushing attackers.
The Blues paid the price for missing those chances two minutes before the break after Kortney Hause struck home a fierce low shot inside the box from Douglas Luiz's cross to hand Villa the lead.
Chelsea continued to cause problems in the early stages of the second stanza but they needed a different approach as Lampard made a double change ten minutes inside the second half, with Christian Pulisic and Ross Barkley coming on for Loftus-Cheek and Kovacic.
Pulisic made an immediate impact as he found the equaliser for Chelsea on the hour-mark with a close-range finish after a cross from Cesar Azpilicueta on the right wing.
The Blues took the lead for the first time in the game two minutes later thanks to a deflected strike from Olivier Giroud inside the box from Azpilicueta's cross.
Chelsea were cautious at the back in the closing phase but Lampard brought on striker Tammy Abraham, who recovered from a hamstring injury, in the last ten minutes in place of Giroud for fresh legs upfront.
Willian almost put the game beyond doubt for the visitors with a 25-yard strike that was dipping towards the crossbar only for Nyland to tip his effort over the bar.
Villa had a glorious chance to snatch a last-gasp equaliser after Jota went clear on goal from an angle and athough his low shot beat Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga it missed the bottom corner by a whisker, as Chelsea held on for the win.
