Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa: Blues maintain pressure on Gunners with comfortable Villa victory
Cole Palmer scored the pick of the goals, while Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez were also on target as Chelsea eased past Aston Villa.
Cole Palmer's sublime strike capped off a fantastic 3-0 win for Chelsea over Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
With second-place Arsenal winning on Saturday, Chelsea took the chance to keep the pressure on the Gunners and moved – at least temporarily – above Manchester City in the process.
Nicolas Jackson opened the scoring with his eighth league goal of the season when he tucked away Marc Cucurella’s centre after just seven minutes.
Enzo Fernandez doubled Chelsea’s lead before half-time, while Palmer's superb 20-yard finish put the result beyond doubt in the 83rd minute.
Enzo Maresca's side are in third place due to alphabetical order, as they have an identical record to Arsenal.
Meanwhile, Villa slipped to 12th after a fifth successive Premier League game without victory – and eighth across all competitions.
Data Debrief: Chelsea inflict further Blues on Villa
Villa's wait for a win continues, while they missed the chance to record three straight league victories over Chelsea for the first time since the 1930s.
The Villans were on the back foot from the seventh minute, when Jackson opened the scoring for the sixth time in a Premier League game this season, with only Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood doing so more often.
He has also opened the scoring inside 10 minutes in four different Premier League games in 2024; the most of any player this year.
Palmer then assisted Fernandez's goal before getting on the scoresheet himself, registering his first direct goal involvements against Villa in the process.