Watkins makes it 11 in a row

Ollie Watkins came on as a substitute to score twice as Aston Villa came from behind to claim an 11th successive win in all competitions and boost their improbable Premier League title hopes with a 2-1 win away to Chelsea.

Villa were comfortably in second place at half-time at Stamford Bridge and were fortunate to only trail by one goal, which came courtesy of a little-known Joao Pedro touch.

But Watkins’ introduction just after the hour turned the game in Villa’s favour, as his effort within four minutes of his introduction restored parity.

Six minutes before the end of normal time, he headed home from a Youri Tielemans corner to secure Villa’s entry into Tuesday’s clash with Arsenal, whom they beat at Villa Park earlier this month, just three points behind the league leaders.

Chelsea forces Emery to move

Chelsea were completely in control of the first half, with Cole Palmer sliding the ball wide from the edge of the box early on before Enzo Fernandes wasted a golden chance at the end of a brilliant move to deny Emi Martinez to deny Pedro.

Reece James shot wide from close range, but his free-kick was instrumental in breaking the deadlock, as Martinez was unable to prevent the ball from progressing into the net with the slightest touch from Pedro.

VAR did not agree with Villa’s claims that Pedro impeded Martinez as he attempted to deal with the cross, and it seems only a matter of time before they fall further behind.

John McGinn had to put up some clever defending to prevent Alejandro Garnacho from tapping in at the back post after Palmer’s pass, and Martinez had to clear away a cross from James, with Chelsea’s constant pressure forcing Unai Emery into action.

Watkins turns the tide

Watkins, Sancho and Amadou Onana were introduced in a three-way substitution that paid off quickly.

Rogers played an excellent pass to Watkins, whose low shot swung under Robert Sanchez, and the Chelsea goalkeeper was the busier of the two after that.

He was required to block efforts from Ian Maatsen and another from Watkins before Rogers curled a free-kick over the bar.

There was nothing Sanchez could do to prevent Watkins completing the conversion when he met Tielemans with an unstoppable header to pull Villa within striking distance of Arsenal ahead of their mouth-watering encounter in north London in three days’ time.