Relentless. Ruthless. Lethal. Christmas can’t get any better for Chelsea and their fans as they thrashed a young Aston Villa side
8-0. Records have been broken in a goal fest at Stamford Bridge and the Chelsea fans have many a reason to have wide grins across their faces.
(Records and “firsts” are highlighted in red)
First Half :
There was only 1 team who looked like they wanted 3 points from the word go and it certainly was Chelsea. It was an all Spanish combo as a lovely cross by Cesar Azpilicuetta found an in-form Fernando Torres who split the Aston Villa defenders in the box and thumped in a perfect #9’s header to give the Blues an early lead. Didier Drogba would have certainly been proud with that.
That was the 50th goal scored in the Premier League this season by a Spaniard.
That was Torres’ 59th goal in 84 Premier League matches under Benitez. He has scored 20 goals for five other managers in 81 Premier League matches.
The game then progressed with both sides having descent amounts of possession but the sad part for Villa was that Benteke found himself in an off side possession almost every time he touched the ball.
Then on the 28th minute, Eden Hazard was fouled 25 yards away from the box. It was interesting to see who would take the free kick as Chelsea had Hazard,Lampard and Mata all wanting to take it. But it was David “Geezer” Luiz who stepped up and drilled in a lovely free kick, something the regular defensive midfielder- Mikel would not have been capable of.
Benteke had been caught offside another couple of times during the course of the game.
Ivanovich completed the final goal of the half 10 minutes before the break, after a Mata’s corner was scrambled in the middle by the Villa’s defence.
Ivanovic became the top scoring defender this PL season with 4 goals, one more than Evra, Bassong.
Benitez undoubtedly would have been the happier manager heading into the tunnel. He surely must have asked his players to now continue being solid at the back but even he would not have predicted the final outcome for Chelsea.
Second Half :
Chelsea started the half exactly from where they left the first half. They were all over Villa but the scoreline still remained 3-0 thanks to a couple of wonderful saves from Aston Villa’s keeper Brad Guzan and a disallowed offside goal from Torres.
At 58 minutes, just when Ramires was getting ready at the sidelines to replace Lampard, Chelsea scored their 4th. And yes, it was that same man. Frank Lampard picked up a pass from Mata and it was a cracking volley from 25 yards into the right corner and Guzan could not do much there.
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That was Lampard’s 190th goal for Chelsea.
That was his last touch of the ball for the night as he was subbed immediately after the goal and earned a well deserved standing ovation from the Blue faithful.
Torres and Mata were then replaced by Oscar and Piazon respectively and it proved to be a night of mixed fortunes for Piazon, who was making his EPL debut.He was responsible for Chelsea’s goal numbers 5 and 6.
Just one minute after his arrival, Piazon delivered a through ball from 40 yards away which found another Brazilian substitute Ramires, who dissected the Aston Villa center backs and finished a cheeky goal by sending the ball between the legs of the keeper.
The 6th goal came on the 79th minute for Chelsea when Piazon was fouled in the box. Another Brazilian substitute, Oscar, converted from the spot.
This was Oscars first goal in EPL.
Chelsea hit their 7th on 83 minutes. Eden Hazard twisted away from two defenders inside the area before absolutely hammering the ball into the top corner from a tight angle. Wonderful finish.
It could have been the best debut ever for Piazon when he was fouled yet again in the box and had a chance to convert the penalty himself this time. But it was almost an anti climax as his shot was saved by Guzan, who though let in 8 on the night, was Villa’s man of the match.
Ramires finished the riot for Chelsea on the 91st minute.Oscar ran through a by now demoralized defence before sliding the ball to Ramires, who side-foot a rising shot straight through Brad Guzan.
Other Records :
8 Of the last 18 Premier League games to see a team score 6+ goals, Chelsea are responsible for eight of them.
That is Aston Villa’s biggest ever defeat in the top flight and it’s Rafa Benitez’s biggest victory in the Premier League. His previous best was 6-0 with Liverpool at home against Derby County in Sept 2007.
Lampard became Chelsea’s record top-flight league scorer with 130 goals for the club, overtaking Bobby Tambling (129).
Lampard scores on his 500th EPL start for Chelsea.
Aston Villa had been beaten 7-0 on five previous occasions, but not since 1964.
Post Match Interview :
Lampard said: “It means that I’m old!! It means a lot. I’m very proud and very proud to beat a great man like Bobby Tambling.”
On contract situation: “I’m not concentrating that far. I’m going to continue game by game and I’m just happy to be fit.”
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Post Match Interview :
Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez: “It is not easy [for Villa] when you concede so many but we are professional and, I am going to say something you will find strange here, Villa were doing really well in terms in what they were trying to do. You can see that their manager has a good ideas and they will be a good positions.
“We were talking to Cesar Azpilicueta about this, about putting the ball just there for Fernando Torres and it was a great header. He just needed a little confidence. For strikers that is key. He was working hard for the team before but now we are playing well and he has more chances to score.
“The main thing is to win games not to score goals, if we keep doing that everything will be easier.”
Paul Lambert : “You always learn, when you win, lose or draw. That will be a wake-up call for us. We’ll bounce back.
“We’ve only got two days to mull over it and have to go again against Spurs. We’ve let everybody down.”
“We were second best all over the pitch, I am not going to stand here and make excuses. We were beaten up pretty badly. The lads know that was not acceptable. You can’t feel sorry for yourselves, you have to go again. We cannot concede as early as that at places like these, you have to get a foothold in the game.”
“Everything that could have gone wrong did, but you cannot let one game blight a whole season. We have been on a good run, but I wasn’t getting carried away and it is the same again now.”