Chelsea player ratings vs Aston Villa: Hat-trick hero close to perfect 10, Palmer influential | OneFootball

Chelsea secured an important 4-1 Premier League win over top-five rivals Aston Villa on Wednesday, thanks to Joao Pedro's hat-trick.

It was a disastrous start to the match for Chelsea, who were caught off guard by Villa's early pressure.

Douglas Luiz put the hosts ahead after just two minutes, forcing Chelsea to open up the game in search of an equaliser instead of their usual plan to maintain control.

However, Villa paid for their high defensive line when Enzo Fernandez found Malo Gusto with a lob. The right-back sent a perfect cross for Joao Pedro to level the score in the 35th minute.

Villa were close to retaking the lead shortly after as Ollie Watkins put the ball past Filip Jorgensen from a counter-attack.

The England international, however, was slightly offside. The disallowed goal eventually proved decisive.

IMAGO / Pro Sports Images

Chelsea once again beat Villa's offside traps, once again through Joao Pedro, just before half-time.

Cole Palmer doubled Chelsea's lead 10 minutes into the second half, capitalising on Emiliano Martinez's poor parry inside the box.

With a two-goal lead, Chelsea posed a lot of counter-attacking threats as Villa desperately tried to throw more bodies in attack.

Joao Pedro completed his hat-trick in the 64th minute thanks to Alejandro Garnacho's selfless pass. 4-1, the game was all but over.

With this win, Chelsea have now climbed back to fifth in the Premier League table, cutting the gap to fourth-placed Villa to just three points.

Filip Jorgensen: 6.6

Malo Gusto: 7.2

Wesley Fofana: 6.3

Trevoh Chalobah: 7.0

Jorrel Hato: 6.8

Reece James: 7.1

Moises Caicedo: 7.1

Enzo Fernandez: 7.3

Cole Palmer: 8.7

Alejandro Garnacho: 7.7

Joao Pedro: 9.6

Substitutes

Romeo Lavia: 6.6

Tosin Adarabioyo: 6.7

Marc Cucurella: 7.0

Andrey Santos: 6.5

Liam Delap: 6.3