Premier League: Aston Villa Draws with Chelsea 2-2
Conor Gallagher’s exceptional second half goal ensured a 2-2 draw for Chelsea with Aston Villa during their Premier League match on Saturday. This helped Chelsea recover from a two-goal deficit, putting Aston Villa’s Champions League aspirations in jeopardy.
Currently, Villa is positioned fourth with 67 points, seven points more than Tottenham Hotspur. Hotspur, yet to play three of the remaining games against Villa, will contest Arsenal who are in the running for the title, in Sunday’s North London derby. Chelsea stands at ninth place with 48 points.
Following a humiliating 5-0 defeat by Arsenal in a midweek game, the start of this game added insult to injury for Chelsea. John McGinn of Villa’s opening hard-luck shot in the match’s fourth minute was unintendedly deflected into Chelsea’s net by Marc Cucurella. Then, right before half-time, Morgan Rogers secured a second goal for Villa.
Villa had to substitute their goalie Emi Martinez for Robin Olsen at halftime due to a hamstring issue. Despite this, Olsen was unable to prevent Noni Madueke from scoring in the 63rd minute and Gallagher’s spectacular equaliser in the 81st minute. Chelsea’s late winning-goal was eventually discounted after a VAR analysis.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024