Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea: Player ratings as abysmal Blues limp into top four

Chelsea had Tottenham to thank as they still managed to sneak into the top four, despite trying to throw it away with an atrocious showing in their 2-1 loss to Aston Villa.

The Blues began the game on top, creating half-chance after half-chance, but they found themselves 1-0 down at the break as Bertrand Traore, against his former club, found some space from a corner and curled an effort into Edouard Mendy's top corner. As it stood, Chelsea were fourth, ahead of Leicester on goal difference.

It was 2-0 shortly after the break as Jorginho gave away a clumsy penalty and allowed Anwar El Ghazi to slot home from 12 yards, and Chelsea were now outside the top four. Timo Werner had another goal ruled out for offside but Ben Chilwell did pull one back to set up a nervy final 20 minutes.

The tension only grew as Cesar Azpilicueta was shown a red card in the 89th minute for raising his hand to Jack Grealish, but thanks to Spurs snatching victory from Leicester, Chelsea booked their spot in the top four.

Here's how both sets of players rated.

Aston Villa player ratings

1. Goalkeeper & Defenders

Emiliano Martinez (GK) - 7/10 - Made plenty of routine saves early on, dealing with everything that came his way. Did his best to get at Chilwell's goal and did incredibly well to deny him a second.

Ezri Konsa (RB) - 6/10 - Had a shaky start up against Chilwell but eventually calmed himself down and started to look comfortable. Enjoyed dealing with Chelsea's constant crosses.

Tyrone Mings (CB) - 7/10 - Looked really up for this. Attacked every ball and made so many clearances. Ended up rattling Chelsea.

Kortney Hause (CB) - 8/10 - It's going to take Hause a while to empty his pockets tonight. Mount, Pulisic and Werner were all buried in there.

Matt Targett (LB) - 6/10 - Struggled to deal with Azpilicueta and gave the Spaniard a lot of chances to cross, but made up for it with a smart corner for Traore's goal.

2. Midfielders

John McGinn (CM) - 7/10 - Threw his body at Kovacic and Jorginho and clearly had them both scared. Didn't pull too many strings in attack but more than made up for it on the defensive end.

Marvelous Nakamba (CM) - 8/10 - Made a good early block on Mount and continued to scare Chelsea's forwards all game. Led by example with an aggressive press and forced so many errors.

Bertrand Traore (RM) - 7/10 - Didn't have the busiest game but made a big contribution with his goal. Might have scuffed it a bit but who cares?

Jack Grealish (AM) - 5/10 - Struggled to find space and lost out to Azpilicueta in a lot of one-on-ones. Looked to lose his cool with a number of early fouls.

Anwar El Ghazi (LM) - 6/10 - Struggled sharing his wing with Grealish but won't care. Scored his penalty with real composure.

3. Forward

Ollie Watkins (ST) - 6/10 - Did a lot of good work off the ball but didn't cause too many problems in possession. Struggled up against Silva.

4. Substitutes

Carney Chukwuemeka - 6/10

Jacob Ramsey - 6/10

Chelsea player ratings

5. Goalkeeper & Defenders

Edouard Mendy (GK) - 5/10 - Didn't have too much to do but will be thoroughly disappointed with the goal. Collided with the post and ended up needing to come off at half-time.

Reece James (CB) - 5/10 - Looked uncomfortable immediately, making a few early mistakes to gift Villa some half-chances, and continued to struggle when called upon.

Thiago Silva (CB) - 7/10 - Did his best to lead by example in defence. Regularly found himself in the right spot to deny Watkins and Grealish.

Antonio Rudiger (CB) - 5/10 - Didn't have much to do but looked uncomfortable whenever he was called upon. Couldn't get on the ball to influence things as much as usual.

6. Midfielders

Cesar Azpilicueta (RM) - 4/10 - Found himself in countless good opportunities early on and sent in several decent crosses, but couldn't find the right man. Foolish to get himself sent off with a petulant swing at Grealish late on. Not a great look for a captain.

Mateo Kovacic (CM) - 2/10 - Wanted a physical battle with McGinn and Nakamba but never stood a chance. Lost his head and didn't offer anything going forward. Forced Jorginho into his stupid challenge by losing his man.

Jorginho (CM) - 2/10 - Awful. Couldn't pass the ball more than ten yards and was eaten alive whenever he was in position. Gave away a foolish penalty to sum up just how bad he was before being replaced by Ziyech.

Ben Chilwell (LM) - 6/10 - Got into some good spaces early on and fired home the lifeline goal after getting into one of those areas. Struggled with the ball at his feet, however.

Christian Pulisic (AM) - 3/10 - Pulisic was playing? Could've fooled me.

Mason Mount (AM) - 4/10 - Couldn't find the positions needed. Had some good chances early on but fluffed every one and never regained his composure after that.

7. Forward

Timo Werner (ST) - 4/10 - At least he wasn't at fault for his offside goal this time? It's about the only positive you can find from a performance which saw Werner mauled by Mings and Hause throughout.

8. Substitutes

Kepa Arrizabalaga - 6/10

Hakim Ziyech - 5/10

Kai Havertz - 5/10

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