A brace from Romelu Lukaku inspired Chelsea to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening.
The Blues got off to a bright start and saw more possession of the ball in the opening exchanges, while Villa sat back and soaked up the pressure.
Chelsea should have taken the lead after 10 minutes but Kai Havertz hit the underside of the bar with his effort from point-blank range after a Callum Hudson-Odoi corner.
The home side managed to take the lead five minutes later when Mateo Kovacic played a superb ball into the path of Romelu Lukaku, who broke into the box before slotting it past Jed Steer.
Ollie Watkins nearly levelled matters in the 18th minute after he gathered the ball on the left and found a yard of space before unleashing a low shot towards goal, but Mende did enough to push the ball out for a corner.
Villa had another chance to equalise in the 27th minute after Watkins laid the ball back to Luiz, but the Brazilian failed to hit target with his shot from outside the box.
Mendy was called into action in the 35th minute when he made a double save to deny Mings and Konsa.
Ziyech came close to doubling Chelsea’s lead in the 42nd minute but Steer did well to make the save before Mendy made a save of his own to deny Ramsey at the other end.
Chelsea managed to hold off the pressure from Villa as the game went into the break 1-0 in favour of the home side.
Despite Villa dominating proceedings early in the second half, Chelsea managed to double their lead in the 49th minute when Kovacic capitalised on an error by Mings before lobbing the ball over Steer to find the net.
The home side should’ve made it 3-0 a minute later when Havertz broke free into the box before unleashing his shot, only to drag his effort wide of goal.
Kovacic had a chance to complete his brace in the 66th minute, but blazed his effort over the target from the edge of the area.
Villa nearly pulled a goal back in the 73rd minute but former Chelsea man Traore guided his curling effort just to wide of the far post, before Alonso fired his effort across the face of goal at the other end two minutes later.
The visitors continued to press forward after 80 minutes as they looked to pull a goal back, but were unable to beat Mendy after having a number of opportunities to find the net.
The home side put the game to bed in stoppage time when they launched a swift break from deep inside their half, with Azpilicueta breaking free down the right before picking out Lukaku on the edge of the box, who then found the net with a rasping drive as theBlues held on for a 3-0 win at home.
