Former Chelsea attacker Bertrand Traore scored and won a penalty to help Aston Villa beat Chelsea 2-1 in front of 10,000 fans at Villa Park.
A first-half goal from Traore came before Anwar El Ghazi slotted in the eventual winner from the penalty spot in the second half.
Ben Chilwell dragged a goal back for the Blues but Cesar Azpilicueta was sent off late on as Chelsea slumped to defeat.
Despite losing Thomas Tuchel’s side managed to cling onto fourth place, due to Tottenham Hotspur’s late comeback victory over Leicester City.
Meanwhile, for the Villans the victory sees them finish on 55 points and in 11th position a stark contrast from last season’s final day escape from relegation.
Thomas Tuchel Questions his Side’s Big Game Experience
After losing both in the FA Cup final and the final day of the season, Tuchel claimed his side need to quickly adjust to the pressure ahead of the Champions League final next week.
Tuchel said: “We were lucky to escape today, but overall the top four position I think it was deserved.
“It was very clear why we didn’t win, we were not determined enough, we didn’t hit the target and the last touches were not precise enough.”
“You can see we are still a very young team, there are a lot of young players who are fighting for their first trophy and for some it’s their first time in the biggest matches, but we need to learn quickly and we need to improve.
“Tomorrow I will take pride from finishing in the top four because that was the main target when I came in, it was a very difficult target to reach and we did it, but after a loss it never feels good.”
Chelsea have been on the wrong end of several VAR decisions in the past week and a half and after the defeat the Chelsea manager was clearly antagonised by more decisions that went against his team.
“The penalty I think was very soft because I saw no movement from Jorginho’s legs, we also had a goal stopped because of a handball on the line that was not given and for the red card I saw no difference from what Azpilicueta did, to what another Aston Villa player did in the first half, but maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise after these matches,” said Tuchel.
Blues punished for poor finishing
Chelsea dominated the opening 30 minutes of the match and had all the chances in that time, Mason Mount failed to direct his volley on target from the edge of the box before Timo Werner also missed the target from a free header inside the penalty box.
Mount then went close again as Azpilicueta pulled the ball back into the path of the Englishman but the midfielder blazed his first time effort well over the bar.
The tide of the match changed on the half hour as John McGinn stole the ball from Mateo Kovacic in the final third and fired a warning strike to the Blues with a curling effort that went just wide of the post.
The hosts then won a cheap corner on the brink of halftime and capitalised on it with a splendid routine which saw Traore roam free to score in off the bar.
Following the break, Traore found space in the box again and was brought down clumsily by Jorginho and El Ghazi sent substitute Kepa Arrizabalaga the wrong way with the resulting penalty to double the Villans advantage in the 52nd minute.
At the time results elsewhere saw Chelsea slip out of the top four and therefore Tuchel had to force the issue bringing on Hakim ZIyech and Kai Havertz.
The Blues gave themselves hope when Chilwell halved the deficit as Chilwell volley was given as a goal thanks to goal-line technology.
Saved by rivals
Chelsea continued to pile on the pressure without the knowledge that Spurs had equalised against Leicester meaning as it stood they were back inside the top four.
Havertz looked set to score an equaliser himself for the Blues but his goalbound effort was blocked by the arm of Tyrone Mings but VAR adjudged his arm was in a ‘natural’ posiition leaving Tuchel furious.
Tottenham then scored again to take the lead and all but guarantee Chelsea’s spot in the Champions’ League qualification spots but the players on the pitch were oblivious and desperately chased a victory.
The desparation turned to anger as Azpilicueta struck out at Jack Grealish after being fouled which led to the Blues being reduced to 10-men in the 89th minute due to a straight red card.
It was only until the 93rd minute of the match that Tuchel received information of the results that had gone in Chelsea’s favour and the German then gave his players the signal from the sidelines to relax for the final two minutes of the Premier League season.
The Blues will need to reset from the defeat as they now look ahead to the climax of the footballing season with a trip to Porto for the Champions’ League final against Manchester City.
