Watkins inspires Villa to comeback win at Chelsea
Ollie Watkins stepped off the bench to score twice as Aston Villa recovered from a goal down to claim a stunning 2-1 victory at Chelsea.
A festive match-up between two rivals for UEFA Champions League qualification was initially dominated by Chelsea, but a second-half fightback saw Villa boost its hopes of a surprise Premier League title push.
After Enzo Fernandez curled wide and Emiliano Martinez kept out Joao Pedro's flick before Chelsea hit the front in the 37th minute.
Reece James whipped in a delicious corner-kick from the left, and as Joao Pedro put Martinez under pressure on the line, the ball flicked in off the Brazilian's calf.
Chelsea continued to press after half-time, with John McGinn almost putting through his own net from Cole Palmer's centre, but the game changed when Unai Emery made a triple substitution in the 58th minute.
Watkins was one of the players introduced, and after teeing up Boubacar Kamara for a chance that was smothered by Robert Sanchez, he equalised in the 63rd minute.
There was an element of fortune about that goal, as Sanchez blocked Watkins' shot but saw the ball ricochet back off the striker and squirm in.
The same could not be said of Watkins's winner, though, as he rose to meet Youri Tielemans's right-wing corner and plant a fine header into the bottom-left corner in the 84th minute.
"Amazing win. Personally, for me, to come off the bench and score goals is amazing," Watkins said after the match, crediting his manager's tactical nous for the win.
"Emery changed [the system], because Chelsea were playing man-to-man. We had an extra body up there. Tactical genius, I'd say.
"When I came on in the second half, he brought Jadon Sancho and Morgan Rogers on the wing, and put Youri Tielemans in the number 10 [role], so we had an extra man in there. He's a tactical genius.
"I feel like teams are worried about us, even if we may not play the prettiest football at times. We're taking each game as it comes and focusing on ourselves, really.
"There's a lot of talk about us, and people asking if we can win the title, but it's a long way away. We're just focusing on the next game."
Watkins has scored in three of his past four Premier League appearances at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea. Since the start of 2020-2021, only Erling Haaland (24) has scored more away top-flight goals in London than him (18).
"He was so, so focused," Emery said of his forward. "Keeping the game plan like we planned and doing his tasks, he's normally getting his numbers and, today, scoring goals is fantastic."
Villa could move level on points with Arsenal if it beats the Gunners on Wednesday (AEDT), but Emery insists there is still a long way to go.
"We are playing against Arsenal, and our mentality is to compete strongly," he added.
"Of course, we are performing very well, we are winning matches in a row, we are competing fantastically. There are still another 20 matches to play."
