What A Marvelous Way For Villa To End 2020/21 – Well Done, Now Aim Higher – Match Stats

Mike Field

3 years ago

Categories: Match Stats, The Villa Match Zone

After a long, and definitely strange season, Aston Villa’s 2020/21 Premier League curtain call saw us host Chelsea at Villa Park in front of a limited crowd.

With 11th place showing significant improvement having survived by the skin of our teeth last year, we will all be left wondering what might have been given how our form tailed off at the turn of the year, but it’s another big summer for the club now as surely next year, European football will be the aim.

But back to today – could we end on a high and give Thomas Tuchel’s side a tickle?

It didn’t look like it. It was an incredibly poor start from us and Chelsea dominated without causing much of a problem. Just ahead of the half hour mark we slowly started waking up and Bertie Traore and John McGinn will know they should’ve done better with their efforts – but at least we were getting into the game finally.

We then got on top of the game and it was all us, and the pressure finally told from a well worked corner routine as Bertie ghosted in and put it in the top corner. 1-0 – here we go, as the goal totally rattled them and their discipline went out the window – the second half was going to be interesting.

Chelsea came out bright but didn’t have a chance to make it count as we matched them, and Bertie quickly won a soft penalty and Anwar El Ghazi made no mistake to make it 2-0.

Chelsea did have the ball in the net, but Werner was clearly offside, so it was rightly scrubbed out.

Sadly, their next wasn’t as Konsa lost Chilwell behind him and he put it in to make it 2-1. Interesting final 20 minutes in store but frustratingly that was Martinez’s record gone – and he deserved it this season.

With a second wind, Chelsea had more of the ball but still didn’t really do anything with it and we more than managed them. Chukwuemeka came on, as did Ramsey and got stuck in nicely, but Marvelous Nakamba lived up to his name and finished the game as many’s Man of the Match.

If Matt Targett takes most improved player of the season, Nakamba isn’t far behind him given what we’ve seen when he’s played.

Chelsea then imploded, well Azpilicueta did, giving Jack a bit of a left hook, and he was off for an early bath.

It was certainly an interesting final day of football given events elsewhere as well.

2-1 full time, 11th place finish – the improvement we all wanted on last year and who knows what might have been without our Covid issues and the way that hit our form. Two good results to end the campaign though, so momentum in our favour and now onto the summer and with the right additions, there’s no reason why Europe won’t be an achievable aim or maybe even higher.

Well done…now better next year please.