Aston Villa continued the spiral toward Premier League relegation with a 4-0 defeat at the hands of a classy Chelsea side last night.
A statement needed to be made by Guus Hiddink’s team at Villa Park and an early injury suffered by Loic Remy would finally provide the chance to see Alexandre Pato make his club debut. Reuben Loftus-Cheek would open the scoring only minutes later, easing some of the nerves among the men in blue and clearly throwing the hosts out of order, with no manager on the sidelines to try and keep control. The outlook by halftime was looking all too familiar for the Villans, allowing Pato to double the lead with his first Chelsea goal from a penalty after he was fouled by Aly Sissoko
Extending the lead again almost immediately after the restart, a clinical brace from Pedro in the second-half put the icing on arguably the Blues’ most flattering result of the season, with Alan Hutton also shown his marching orders late on for a second yellow card.
It was the type of commanding result that Chelsea needed, although at this point it did not carry much weight for the reigning champions, while the claret and blue ship continues to sink toward new depths.
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Pedro’s masterclass comes too late
The initial arrival of the five time La Liga champion to Stamford Bridge in the early season was meant to fill the cracks that were becoming all too evident under Jose Mourinho, but instead of inspiring hope, Pedro fell into similarly insipid form as Eden Hazard and Oscar. Like the team he used the opportunity to shine and restore some pride against Aston Villa’s sieve of a defence, breaking away from his markers to score two close-range goals in the second-half.
The first heralded back to Chelsea’s best play of last season, with Oscar and Pato passing around the opposition and centring the ball for Pedro’s finish, while the final goal of the match came when Guzan could only force a strike from Pato back onto the feet of the ex-Barcelona playmaker for an easy tap-in.
No leadership, no confidence, no hope
Another match goes by for the Villans with three more points dropped, a red card, no real attacking momentum created and four goals conceded. Summed up best by the simple signs held up by supporters which read ‘Proud History, What Future?’, the club seems to be proverbially running toward their fate with their heads cut off. It becomes increasingly harder to find any positives when Villa are on the field, with Rudy Gestede completely isolated up front and the back four unable to keep up with any opposition.
Even a wayward Chelsea side dominated the men in claret and blue from start to finish, and there are still six weeks to go before Aston Villa will mercifully be put out of their misery.
Promising Pato deserves more game time
While not nearly as hopeless as Villa’s, It is a sign of where the season has come to for the Blues that Guus Hiddink is giving solid game time to the squad’s developing players such as Loftus-Cheek and Baba Rahman. Yet winter import Alexandre Pato had to wait nearly four months to make his club debut and only then as a second-choice to Loic Remy. It only took 20 minutes for the Corinthians loanee to open his tally from the penalty spot, something which clearly buoyed his confidence for the rest of the game.
Exhibiting a mix of pace, control and physicality that Chelsea’s other striking options do not possess, if fully fit Pato should be given the chance to endear himself to the Stamford Bridge faithful. The impeding return of Diego Costa though might mean that this game is the highlight of the 26-year-old’s time in London.
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