Chelsea 0-2 Aston Villa: Ollie Watkins and John McGinn pile the pressure on under-fire Graham Potter

The respite for Graham Potter hasn’t lasted long. If he thought he’d seen the back, he was sadly wrong.

Those three successive pressure-relieving victories that suggested the corner had been turned are already a distant memory, though the last one was only a few weeks ago.

A frustrating draw against Everton after conceding a last-minute equalizer before the international break followed by this desperate home defeat to Aston Villa has quickly erased that optimism from early March.

Chelsea were booed by some at half time and all who remained at full time, the volume of them increasing significantly after Andrew Madley’s final whistle.

Worse than that, a small group of home fans chanted ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ at Potter after Villa doubled their lead early in the second half through a superb John McGinn goal that ended the drought. Shortly after, a chorus came from the end of the Villa saying ‘they’re going to fire you in the morning’.

Worryingly for Potter, who saw a defensive gamble backfire, a section of Chelsea fans also joined in.

Potter’s return and Chelsea’s woes overshadowed a brilliant victory for Unai Emery’s Villa, a fourth in five games unbeaten, and a historic day for Ollie Watkins.

He struck once again to put the visitors on their way, and in doing so became the first Villa player to score in five consecutive Premier League away games.

He should have done it within the first seven minutes when there was a great chance for everyone.

Chelsea had the first one presented to them by Villa. Emi Martinez passed a short pass to Boubacar Kamara, who was just outside his box, still looking a bit uncomfortable after an early strike and unaware of his surroundings.

That was Mykhailo Mudryk, who stripped the Villa midfielder of the ball, but saw his shot deflected over the bar from the outstretched leg of Martinez, who made amends after putting his team-mate in trouble.

Meanwhile, Kamara continued to hobble, but only until halftime, when he was replaced by Calum Chambers.

Villa’s first chance was just as good.

McGinn’s pass sent a fit Watkins away, his first touch pushing the ball in perfectly at his pace, but his last saw him drag the ball wide wide. It turned out that he was just getting his bearings.

First, however, McGinn hit the bar with a sweeping effort for the first time after Chelsea failed to make the most of a promising counter-attacking chance before Villa’s ensuing attack ended with the opener.

Douglas Luiz’s pass attempt should have been cut off by Chelsea, who had enough lengths behind.

But the top-placed Kalidou Koulibaly didn’t communicate with Marc Cucurella, whose header down the stretch only bounced perfectly off Watkins’ trajectory, who this time didn’t miss, coldly bowling underdog Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Potter seemed to play with his lineup, starting with natural full-backs Reece James and Cucurella as the wide center backs in his three backs when he had Trevoh Chalobah and Benoit Badiashile on the bench.

He did not need one of those he had selected to contribute to the fall of Chelsea. Chelsea’s response was decisive, as they pushed for an equaliser.

Joao Félix forced Martínez to make a sharp save from below to his right, Ben Chilwell appealed to no avail for a penalty, Kai Havertz saw a save saved and Enzo Fernández headed wide.

Villa initially threatened only sporadically after scoring, encouraged by Chelsea’s carelessness on possession.

And, from an attack, Chelsea counterattacked, Mateo Kovacic broke Villa’s defense with a brilliant pass that was not matched by Mudryk’s shot, too meek when he had much more time and perhaps a reflection of a player with little confidence.

Chelsea kept pressing. Chilwell struck just outside the post after another clever pass from Kovacic before a pair of corners and a volleyed cross from Chilwell sent the Villa box into a panic.

Chelsea deserved an equalizer from their 14 first-half tries and 70 per cent possession.

They thought they had one when Chilwell got past Ashley Young to head Fernández’s cross just before half time, but referee Madley correctly spotted that a two-handed push had helped the Chelsea winger past the Villa defender.

Chelsea’s pressing pattern continued after the break and Unai Emery showed how valuable every counter-attacking opportunity would be, hiding his head in his hands in anguish as careless passes from Villa saw the ball returned directly to their hosts.

Tyrone Mings and Konsa combined to block Felix as Chelsea threatened again before Cucurella blazed.

Chelsea, however, remained frustrated, needed a real boost and were preparing one with N’Golo Kante set to make his first first-team appearance since picking up a hamstring injury in August.

But first they dealt another big blow when Villa kept their attack alive with a corner kick, the impressive Jacob Ramsey faced the unmarked John McGinn who charged the ball and folded it perfectly into Kepa’s bottom corner, scoring his first goal since November 2021. .

It meant Kante’s long-awaited return came under desperate circumstances, although he had a great chance to start the comeback but shot wide from teammate Noni Madueke’s pass.

Kante certainly encouraged Chelsea but he couldn’t fix his inability to convert possession and attempts into goal.

And it was Villa substitute Leon Bailey who came closer than anyone with his first try since leading 2-0, a ferocious effort past Kepa’s top corner.

But Villa had already done enough damage by then. In fact, more than enough to claim victory and put Potter back under pressure.