Aston Villa vs. Chelsea : 4 March 2026.
Chelsea were amid a run of away games against Arsenal, Aston Villa, Wrexham and Paris St. Germain; this midweek fixture at Villa Park was being talked about within many Chelsea circles as a “must win” game, bearing in mind Villa’s place in the league – just ahead of us – but also because they were on a run of poor form.
This had been a simple enough flit up the M5 for me – via a curry at “The Vine” in West Bromwich – and I was parked-up on Bragg Road around fifteen minutes from the away turnstiles at 6.30pm. I fastened my coat and walked east. Kick-off was an hour away.
It was the usual scene at Villa Park; the police vans parked on the roundabout where Witton Road meets Aston Lane, the approach along Witton Lane, the bloke with the “God Is Love” placard, the red bricked buildings, the souvenir sellers, the floodlights in the distance. I did notice a new pre-match hospitality area as I got closer, a good use of those old existing buildings. Villa have plans to enlarge the existing North Stand, and they have plenty of space to enlarge the hospitality areas further.
I was sat in the second row alongside John; alas Alan and Gary could not make this one. Parky and PD were down in the lower tier.
The famous old stadium slowly filled, and we were soon treated to the usual pre-match rituals at Villa of “Hi-Ho Aston Villa”, flames, and fireworks, and dear old Ozzy belting out “Crazy Train.” Other clubs – yes, including ours – have gone for the “Flames & Fireworks” as a pre-curser to the match, but Villa have taken it to a different level. If you were to rate their pre-match claret and sky-blue pyrotechnic trickery, it would certainly be top of the pile. In fact, Villa are so desperate for silverware these days that we might soon find this in their honours section of their match programme.
Amid the sulphurous fumes, the teams made their way onto the pitch.
Liam Rosenior had chosen this team :
Filip Jorgensen
Malo Gusto – Wesley Fofana – Trevoh Chalobah – Jorrel Hato
Reece James – Moises Caicedo
Cole Palmer – Enzo Fernandez – Alejandro Garnacho
Joao Pedro
Was Robert Sanchez injured or dropped?
We were dressed in our all-black kit, and I had immediate memories of us in that colour at this venue in other years, most memorably the Frank Lampard game in 2013 when he equalled and then surpassed Bobby Tambling’s 202 goals. I also, and oddly, remembered the black-shirted Alexandre Pato’s penalty kick in a 4-0 win in 2016.
The game began with us attacking the towering Holte End. I spent the first few moments trying to work out who was where on the right side of the field. Was Reece at right back, but able to push into midfield with Malo Gusto as a right-sided attacker – unlikely, I know – or was Gusto at right back, with Reece alongside Caicedo in midfield? The positioning of Enzo and Palmer seemed to confuse me more than help me. I think it was the initial position of Gusto, so high on that far side, that had baffled me. Within those first fleeting moments, we had won a corner but then got caught on a rapid break from the home team. I took a couple of photos of Leon Bailey teasing away down below us. He got the better of Hato and drove a low ball into the box, where Douglas Luiz delicately and deftly touched it past Jorgensen.
Only three minutes had passed, and we were already 0-1 down.
Fackinell.
I was shell-shocked.
The home support was enlivened.
“Holte Enders in the skoy.”
Two minutes later, Garnacho on the left curled a great cross over for Joao Pedro to head down but Emilano Martinez saved well.
Soon after, at a Chelsea corner, we noticed how the Villa team left four players up, and of course it meant we had less numbers in attack. It was a new and novel approach to defending corners, though I seem to remember Jose Mourinho leaving three up in his first stint with us.
Palmer shot weakly at Martinez on a quarter of an hour, and up until now our support was getting increasingly frustrated with the slow approach play from the back. Chalobah must have touched the ball more than anyone else in this period.
“Get it forward!”
I heard that Arsenal were 1-0 up at Brighton and I told John “I hate football.”
On twenty-one minutes, another chance for Palmer inside the box after a great ball into him, but his finish was as weak as before. Then, two minutes later, and with Chelsea picking up the pace and finding some good angles and spaces, a lovely move set up Enzo, but his effort was hit tamely at Martinez. By now, Garnacho was getting more and more involved out wide and giving Matty Cash a real test.
The game was hotting up. We had, also, quietened their crowd, always a good sign.
Out on the far side of the pitch was Ian Maatsen, our former player, and I could not help noticing how short he seemed in comparison to the other players. I had only been commenting to Alan, I think, at a recent home game how we never see short players at football these days. It’s a mark of the modern game; how most players need to be tall and physically strong, and especially fast, in this era. Gone are the days when will o’ the wisp players…cheeky wingers, midfield dynamos…were everywhere…our own Pat Nevin, our own Mickey Thomas, our own Gianfranco Zola spring to mind. All these players – and Maatsen – were 5’6” and it’s an oddity that there seems to be a shortage – sorry! – of these players today.
Maybe I noticed Maatsen because I am 5’6” too.
We continued to be press forward.
Just after the half-hour I turned to John to say “it’s a much better game now.”
We had thrown off our shackles and were now having a real go at Villa. There was a shot from the energetic Garnacho, and the Chelsea choir were now getting behind the men in black. But Villa were still an occasional threat and Ollie Watlkins perhaps should have tested Jorgensen better when one-on-one.
On thirty-five minutes, a wonderful ball from Enzo was sent over the Villa defence to the onrushing Gusto. He spotted the run of Joao Pedro and I sensed a goal. I mouthed “here we go” at the exact moment that he arrived to slide the ball home.
GET IN YOU BEAUTY.
More Chelsea pressure, Garnacho revelling in the space out wide.
“Go on son, get past him.”
Cash was being run from arsehole to breakfast time.
In the third minute of added time, Hato – who was enjoying a very solid game – dribbled into the Villa box with ease but his shot was blocked.
Then, a rapid Villa break, and I kept an eye on the passage of play, trying to spot if an offside was about to happen. The ball was passed out to Ollie Watkins who struck the ball past Jorgensen. The Villa hordes roared again,
To me, it looked onside. Thankfully, VAR ruled otherwise. Phew.
Then, with five minutes of added time played, Chelsea were again knocking on the door, and Garnacho was involved once more. He found Enzo who wriggled into some space and lifted an exquisite ball into Joao Pedro. He nonchalantly guided the ball past Martinez.
Now it was our turn to roar again.
Then, to our horror, VAR was called in to rule on a potential offside.
Nah. The goal stood.
At the break, we were 2-1 to the good.
“Great recovery that, John.”
I just hoped that we could continue in the same fashion. Sometimes we just can’t seem to play two consecutive halves in the same way, can we?
Joe Cole, with former Chelsea fan Peter Crouch on TV duty, were spotted a few times and Joey walked over to pose for some photos with a few Chelsea supporters in the break.
Before the second period, more “Crazy Train” and another Chelsea huddle on the centre-circle that seemed to irritate the Villa players.
The second half began, and there were two early chances for Garnacho but he spurned them both.
On fifty-five minutes, we broke when Caicedo won a ball inside our half and we moved the ball quickly – no honest, we did, I was there – via Palmer and Joao Pedro and found Reece on the wing. His low cross was punched away by Martinez, but only as far as Palmer. The Palmer of old – er, two seasons ago – would have struck it home easily, whereas the little less confident Palmer of 2026 might struggle. I watched to see which version would prevail.
He struck the ball with venom. Its trajectory was unhindered. The back of the net rippled.
GET IN.
I watched Palmer cup his ear as if to say “what’s that you been saying about me?” and then saw his trademark celebration.
Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap.
“Palmer again, ole, ole.”
We were 3-1 up.
Beautiful.
We continued to purr, and the Chelsea fans were energised and happy. This was just how I wanted us to play. With more freedom. With more pace. With more style.
Chelsea is all about style.
But this was still an open game – Mourinho would have hated it – and chances for Palmer and Garnacho were matched occasionally by Villa. Watkins was put through, one on one with Jorgensen but he dallied, enabling Chalobah to twist his body and dig out the ball, a fine piece of defending.
On sixty-three minutes, former blues Jadon Sancho and Ross Barkley were among the three substitutions made by Villa.
A minute later, Caicedo – from deep – swept the ball out to Gusto, who touched it to Palmer. His trusted left peg floated the ball out to Garnacho. I photographed his surging run, deep into the box, and watched as he very unselfishly played the ball square to Joao Pedro who guided the ball in, his hat-trick.
The goal immediately reminded me of that Lampard goal from 2013.
The scorer raced over to the Chelsea section, and I was lucky enough to capture his beatific smiles.
4-1.
Fackinell.
Not long after, there was an audacious bicycle kick from Joao Pedro.
On seventy-two minutes, Tammy Abraham came on and so Villa now had four ex-Chelsea players in their eleven.
In the last fifteen minutes, Rosenior rang the changes.
75 minutes : Romeo Lavia for Gusto.
79 minutes : Marc Cucurella for Enzo.
79 minutes : Tosin Adarabioyo for Fofana,
85 minutes : Liam Delap for Joao Pedro.
85 minutes : Andrey Santos for Palmer.
John and I had a little laugh about Lavia and his unfortunate habit of getting injured. I envisaged a scenario where he is chosen to start a game and lasts the entire match. He comes into the Chelsea dressing room at the end of the game and sits on the bench alongside his teammates.
Liam Rosenior sees him and asks “what the fuck are you doing here?”
With the game won, and the number of changes, it was no surprise that the game drifted towards the end. It was nice to see the former Chelsea players again, and Barkley had a trademark shuffle through the middle and shot.
“I can actually see them scoring” I said to Gary, just as Barkley floated a ball in and Abraham leapt to head the ball on to the top of the bar.
In the stadium, the home fans were drifting away, and the Chelsea crowd aired the “fire drill” chant.
The game finished and the men in black had triumphed. This was a lovely surprise, a great Chelsea performance – admittedly against an increasingly disheartened Villa team – and a perfect response to the doom mongers after Arsenal. The plaudits must got to Joao Pedro and his sublime touch, and his ability to drift in and score, but Garnacho was a revelation, his best game for us by a country mile. A special mention for Hato, too; what a polished performance.
I was able to take a selection of photographs at the end as the Chelsea players celebrated down below. I loved the way Enzo was serenaded. He has many admirers at Chelsea. And I loved how we sang Tammy’s name as he walked, slightly, towards us. The photo of him with Trevoh is my favourite of the whole night.
And so that was that. A great away win in a “must-win” game, and a nice fillip before trips to Wales and France.
Oh, there were three extra bits of drama that I won’t bore you with that took place during the afternoon and evening involving Parky’s ‘phone, my SLR camera and my wallet.
“I still can’t download the ticket. I reckon I’m knackered.”
“You can’t bring that camera in. There’s a “drop-off” place just over there.”
“The team are doing a sweep of the stadium; it’s going to be an hour mate. Will you wait here to see if we can find it?”
Thankfully, everything worked out.
Next up, a first-ever trip for me to Wrexham.
Stay tuned.
