Anwar El Ghazi scored his fifth goal in five matches to help Aston Villa gain a point in a 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues took the lead in the first half through Olivier Giroud’s header but were pegged back early in the second half, meaning that they have now won just once in their last five matches.
In contrast, the Villans continue their fine form moving to five matches unbeaten whilst conceding just once.
The match came less than 48 hours after both teams played on Boxing Day yet their respective managers took different approaches on how to line up.
Frank Lampard made six changes following a disappointing defeat by Arsenal, while Dean Smith made just one enforced change as Tyrone Mings was suspended due to receiving a red card against Crystal Palace.
Post-match, Smith explained the reasoning behind his decision that ultimately paid off: ‘I chose not to rotate the squad, as I had to choose between fresh legs or momentum and confidence and for me momentum and confidence wins all day long.’
‘I’m still yet to see a football player be carried off the pitch due to exhaustion football players just want to play football and they all wanted to play today,’ he joked.
Both teams started well with Villa captain Jack Grealish testing Edouard Mendy with a curling effort early on, before almost gifting the hosts the opener when his back pass was intercepted by Christian Pulisic but the American winger fired narrowly wide when through on goal.
The breakthrough for the came in the 34th minute for the Blues with a splendid team goal rounded off by Giroud, who headed home expertly for his ninth goal in all competitions this season.
Chelsea ended the half strongly and looked as if they would go onto score a few more in a much-needed victory for Lampard’s men.
However, the visitors hit back just five minutes after the break, when El Ghazi was left free at the back post to volley through Mendy’s legs, while Andreas Christensen was down injured.
Soon after, the Villans almost took the lead themselves, when the man-of-the-match John McGinn rattled the crossbar with a left-footed strike from 25 yards out.
Chelsea thought they had restored their lead midway through the second half only for Cesar Azpilicueta’s goal to be ruled out for an offside on Pulisic.
The Blues pushed for the winner late but with no avail as substitute Timo Werner blazed over from inside the 18-yard box, continuing his awful run of form in front of goal, before Chilwell’s audacious volley whistled past Emiliano Martinez’s far post at the death.
By Sajidur Rahman
