Ollie Watkins’ second-half double earns Aston Villa comeback victory at Chelsea

For 58 minutes the notion of Aston Villa as plausible title challengers was laughable. They were second best at Stamford Bridge, were 1-0 down to an inspired Chelsea and looked destined to rue Unai Emery’s decision not to start Ollie Watkins.

Few managers are more cunning than Emery when it comes to turning a game, though. The Spaniard is never slow to act and his substitutions were key to Villa recording their 11th consecutive win in all competitions. Watkins equalised five minutes after coming on and the celebrations were wild when the striker punished Chelsea’s collapse in the second half with a lethal winning header in the 84th minute.

Morgan Rogers, of course, was the architect. He was key to Villa’s revival and will give Emery’s side hope of continuing their run when they visit Arsenal on Tuesday.

Villa, only three points below Arsenal, had not resembled title challengers during a cagey, occasionally fractious first half. They lined up in a compact 4-2-2-2 formation, with Rogers and Donyell Malen playing as central strikers, but the ploy was ineffective and offered Chelsea an opportunity to seize the initiative from the start.

The hosts did not disappoint. Chelsea were energetic, aggressive and imposing. They played with width and deserved to lead at half-time.

Enzo Maresca, observing events from the back of the press box while he served a touchline ban, looked on approvingly for 45 minutes. Chelsea flew at Villa, Cole Palmer signalling their intent by whistling an early volley wide, and there was little cause for concern at the other end.

This was Chelsea at their spiky, intense best. They went close when Palmer sashayed through the middle and Garnacho picked out Enzo Fernández, who curled a shot just wide. They threatened through James, who shot wide from 20 yards, and sought to overwhelm Villa with a series of teasing deliveries from the flanks.

The pressure soon told. Villa were scratchy, unconvincing and easily breached when James swung a corner in from the left in the 37th minute. Emiliano Martínez was pinned to his line by Fernández and unable to stop João Pedro from scoring with the slightest of touches.

Chelsea should have pushed on after João Pedro’s second goal in two games. Yet they were profligate at the start of the second half and allowed Emery to rectify his initial selection by altering the flow with a triple substitution in the 58th minute.

Ollie Watkins scores Aston Villa’s equaliser after his initial shot was blocked by the floored Robert Sánchez. Photograph: David Klein/Reuters

The mood changed when Jadon Sancho, Amadou Onana and Watkins came on for John McGinn, Emi Buendía and Malen. Villa had a focal point with Watkins leading the line and they almost equalised when the striker released Boubacar Kamara, only for Robert Sánchez to deny the midfielder.

Chelsea did not heed the warning. In the next sequence of play Onana stepped in when Benoît Badiashile tried to play out from the back. Chelsea were all over the place. There was no reaction as Onana found Rogers, who sent Watkins through to bundle the ball past Sánchez after his first shot was saved by the goalkeeper.

It was some turnaround. Villa pushed for a second and Sánchez had to make saves from Watkins and Ian Maatsen before Rogers cracked a free-kick inches over.

Chelsea, who have dropped to fifth place after one win in their past six league games, responded with a flurry of substitutions in an attempt to restore order. Palmer was unimpressed when his number came up. He flung his arms in the air and did not look happy as he made way for Estêvão Willian.

Maresca, who thought Chelsea should have had a penalty when Maatsen handled a cross from Alejandro Garnacho at 1-0, soon looked just as glum. There were six minutes left when an error from Malo Gusto, who had replaced Marc Cucurella at left-back, led to Watkins winning the game’s decisive corner. Youri Tielemans sent in an outswinger from the right and nobody in blue challenged as Watkins powered a superb header past Sánchez.

The away dugout was ecstatic at full time. Their joy was not going to be punctured by someone appearing to throw a bottle of water in their direction.