Chelsea overcame Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge as they maintained their lead at the top of the Premier League.
Chelsea accounted for the injured Ramires by dropping Cesc Fabregas back into a deeper role at placed Oscar behind Diego Costa upfront.
The defence was unchanged from Chelsea’s last league game as Branislav Ivanovic kept his place over the Brazilian Filipe Luis.
Courtois returned to the starting lineup after Petr Cech featured in midweek against Bolton in the cup.
Chelsea got off to the best start possible as they were a goal up inside seven minutes as Oscar tucked away Willian’s cutback, to calm any early game nerves around the Bridge.
The remainder of the half lacked clear cut chances for either wide as the away team rarely threatened Courtois’ goal and Chelsea seemed content to go into the break just a goal up.
The 1-0 half time score didn’t reflect Chelsea’s dominance but the early goal perhaps made the Blues a little complacent, as they didn’t make the most of their momentum and push on for more.
However, second half was a different story. After a few slow minutes and a couple of scares at their own end, Chelsea started to take control of the game.
Diego Costa continued his blistering start to the season with his eighth goal in six Premier League games.
Brilliant movement from the striker meant he could rise to meet Azpilicueta’s cross from the left and give Chelsea a cushion going into the final half an hour.
It was all Chelsea from now and the rout was completed 20 minutes later as Willian grabbed his first of the season, latching onto a Diego Costa shot which was saved by Brad Guzan.
Chelsea replaced Oscar, who opened the scoring, with John Obi Mikel as they looked to keep a clean sheet and see out the rest of the game without any difficulties.
Remy also replaced Diego Costa as the game came to a close but could make little impact with his limited time on the field.
Chelsea played out the remaining ten minutes in relative ease and with the chants of the home fans behind them, their stunning start to the season went on.
The final whistle went and the victory represented everything that the Blues had improved since last campaign; finishing off teams by taking the chances that come your way.
They also did the basics well, keeping possession and seeking out the right time to punish Villa’s leaky defence, which also conceded three at home to Arsenal last weekend.
Chelsea’s title hopes took an ultimately fatal dent away to Paul Lambert’s side last season and Mourinho will have wanted to be sure that they suffered no needless early season setbacks today.
The clean sheet will also be a bonus to a defence which has come under some critisism in recent weeks, having conceded in all but one game this season before today.
After the game, Mourinho had this to say of his team’s performance:
I think everything was under control, we played very well. The second and third goal killed the game.
“We have different people scoring goals. We are not perfect, we have to improve in every area, but we are doing well”, Jose added.
In terms of Man of the Match, Willian certainly deserves a mention. Having played a part in the opening goal, he also rounded off a solid performance with one of his own, to go with his usual high workrate.
Chelsea travel to Portugal to face Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday before returning to host London rivals Arsenal in the League next Sunday.
Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa – Match Facts:
- Diego Costa now has 8 goals in his first 6 PL appearances
- Chelsea are one of just two unbeaten teams in the PL so far (with Arsenal)
- Diego Costa’s day: One goal, 86% pass accuracy, 1 tackle, 2 aerial duels won, 1 chance created
- Chelsea’s day: 17 shots, 15 chances created, 91% pass accuracy, 3 goals
Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa – Your Views:
@CFCNewsApp professional and good win
Simon (@sprussell1958) September 27, 2014
@CFCNewsApp wonderful to see a clean sheey and some game time for remy. Fast start brilliant end ð #cfc
? ChelseaFc ? (@ivoryhorse88) September 27, 2014
@CFCNewsApp Solid, not spectacular. Alexander Tenison (@alex_tenison) September 27, 2014
@CFCNewsApp ivanovic had an excellent game, so did Oscar both could be MOTM and costa scoring is standard procedure
About a week ago (@OmzBoyAli) September 27, 2014
