Chelsea 2-1 Aston Villa: Report, Ratings & Reaction as Mason Mount's Magic Seals the Win

Mason Mount's bolt from the blue ensured Chelsea bounced back

from their defeat to West Ham with a 2-1 home win against a

spirited Aston Villa on Wednesday.

Chelsea started brightly, and Tammy Abraham marked his return to

the side with the opener.

The ball was worked to Reece James, whose delicate cross was met

by an unopposed Abraham to head home.

The home side were dominant, but then moments before the break,

Villa countered and equalised.

Ahmad Elmohamaday whipped in a wicked delivery, which Trezeguet

met with a combination of head and foot to bundle the ball home.

But then, minutes after the interval, Mount's moment of magic put

Chelsea back in front.

 Mount showed great panache to crash a first-

time volley past Tom Heaton after Abraham had chested it into his

path.

The Cobham production line. In the second half especially, Chelsea’s

band of youngsters were positively purring.

Lampard was able to call on Abraham, who was the focal point of

every Chelsea attack.

He was involved in everything going

forward. James was too, and while he has much to learn defensively,

he's a real attacking force - and supplied Abraham for Chelsea’s

opener.

And then there was Mount, who while anonymous in the first half

began dictating play in the second, and fired Chelsea into the lead

with an unstoppable strike.

Lampard's side may concede too many, but their youthful

exuberance makes them one of the most exciting teams in the

league.

Star Player - All the talk before kick-off was whether or not Abraham

would be fit to start against the team he fired to promotion from the

Championship last season.

The answer was yes, and Villa couldn't live with him. 

Abraham got

Chelsea’s opener and was a real handful all night.

He gave Ezri Konsa a torrid time at centre-half, after slipping him for

the first goal, and he then outmuscled him for Mount’s spectacular

strike.

The 22-year-old came within whiskers of a second on a couple of

occasions too.

After leaving Old Trafford with a draw, the question was whether

Villa could claim more points away to one of the league's big hitters.

However, having got themselves back in the game with the equaliser

on the stroke of half-time, Dean Smith will be disappointed by his

team conceding so soon after the break.

Villa were far from the performance they gave against Manchester

United and the goal was a real sucker-punch for the visitors.

They fought valiantly to keep the score down but they never looked

like getting back on level terms once Mount had put Chelsea back in

front.

Star Player - Elmohamady kept the in-form Christian Pulisic at bay

and provided Villa with an attacking outlet, in the rare moments that

the Midlands side ventured forward.

No more sO than for the goal, when his sumptuous cross from the

right provided the assist for Trezeguet’s equaliser.

The delivery had such verve and whip on it, that the Chelsea defence

were unable to deal with it and although the finish was fortunate, the

ball was deserving of a goal.

And, then late in the second half, the Egyptian had a chance to

snatch a point but he was unable to keep his shot down.