As these teams emerged for kick-off, the Holte End displayed a tifo proudly flaunting Aston Villa\u2019s deck of cards, chiefly an ace of clubs. By the end, however, their upper hand in the race for the Champions League felt rather hollow, if not diminished. Chelsea had dismantled Unai Emery\u2019s side to move within three points of Villa, Jo\u00e3o Pedro scoring a hat-trick to take his tally to 17 goals for the season.<\/p>\n
The Brazil striker was in the mood for a fourth and tried his luck with an audacious overhead kick, while Emiliano Mart\u00ednez prevented Alejandro Garnacho from adding a bruising fifth late on. For Villa and their grand aspirations, it was a sobering evening, even if Manchester United\u2019s late defeat<\/a> by Newcastle surely softened the blow.<\/p>\n It was Liam Rosenior who shuffled his pack, dropping Robert S\u00e1nchez with the goalkeeper culpable for both goals in defeat at Arsenal<\/a> last Sunday, but while Chelsea trailed after two minutes Filip J\u00f6rgensen was rarely troubled on just his third league appearance of the season. Cole Palmer added Chelsea\u2019s third from just inside the 18-yard box and when Jo\u00e3o Pedro exhibited his anime face-mask goal celebration for the final time after finding a fourth, every outfield Chelsea player joined the party.<\/p>\n Chelsea climbed a place to fifth, with Villa and United, also only three points ahead, in their sights with nine games to go. As Chelsea\u2019s players savoured the victory, it was impossible to escape the sense this was a notable triumph. \u201cIt\u2019s only significant if we back it up,\u201d Rosenior said. \u201cWe have to be consistent. We have a massive FA Cup game [at Wrexham on Saturday], then a huge game in Paris [in the Champions League] and then against Newcastle. If we perform at that level, we\u2019re going to be in a good place. It\u2019s not just Aston Villa we\u2019re behind and chasing.\u201d<\/p>\n Jo\u00e3o Pedro\u2019s second, dispatched into the far inside pocket of Mart\u00ednez\u2019s goal after latching on to Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s cute pass, Rosenior said, was a world-class finish and only Erling Haaland, Igor Thiago and Antoine Semenyo have outscored the Brazilian<\/a> in the league this season. \u201cI\u2019m also delighted with his two tap-ins, because he was in the right place at the right time and we\u2019ve worked really hard on that,\u201d said Rosenior of a player who has nine goals in his past nine games.<\/p>\n