Before facing PSG next Wednesday in the Champions League round of 16, Chelsea returned to winning ways in the Premier League by winning 4-1 on Wednesday night at Aston Villa, with João Pedro notably on fire and a new goalkeeper.

Coming off two draws and a defeat in the Premier League, Chelsea returned to victory on Wednesday night by winning 4-1 on Aston Villa's pitch, a direct competitor of the Blues for a place in the Top 4. A flattering scoreline since the Villans could have led 2-1 by a few centimeters in the 41st minute (goal disallowed by VAR), and Chelsea's second goal a few minutes later (a magnificent left-footed chip from João Pedro) was not far from being offside.

Caught cold from the 3rd minute, Chelsea at least had the merit of coming back into the match and taking advantage of Unai Emery's team's poor form to roll in the second half, carried notably by a Cole Palmer rediscovered and scorer from open play this time, he who had never scored in his career in the Premier League against a Top 5 team, excluding penalties. Unlike their last two matches, Liam Rosenior's team also finished the match with 11 players, which changes quite a few things, and did not concede a goal from a corner.

The goal conceded by Chelsea in the 3rd minute of play, however, showed that this team had defensive weaknesses to exploit and that their central hinge (comprising Wesley Fofana and Trevoh Chalobah) was not extraordinary. Liam Rosenior had, in any case, made the strong choice to change goalkeepers, sending his Spanish goalkeeper Robert Sanchez to the bench. It was the Danish international Filip Jorgensen who replaced him, and if the latter did not keep a clean sheet, he made several important saves for his team.

"The Dane impressed. He made several decisive saves against Rogers and Watkins, and also showed decisiveness off his line. At the same time last year, his mistake allowed Villa to take all three points. How times change," wrote the London Evening Standard in its ratings after giving 7/10 to the Blues' goalkeeper, who could well start next Wednesday.

Liam Rosenior also highlighted his performance in the post-match press conference: "I think it was an exceptional performance from the team, starting with Filip (Jorgensen), through the defense, the midfield, Moises (Caicedo), Enzo (Fernandez), Romeo (Lavia) when he came on, Garnacho, whom we talked about. I just think it was an exceptional team performance," the Blues coach confided.

He also spoke about his goalkeepers on the BBC microphone: "Rob (Sanchez) is an exceptional goalkeeper, and I just saw Filip (Jorgensen) in training, and sometimes, as a coach, you have to trust your instinct. Filip brought us something different, and they're both going to compete for the starting spot until the end of the season."

The former Strasbourg coach also necessarily had sweet words for his Brazilian scorer João Pedro, author of a resounding hat-trick: "Yes, he's a top-level player. I think he's gained in confidence. His hold-up play, the energy he brings to the team in terms of pressing, his movement, and his left-footed goal are world-class. The finish is beautiful. But actually, I'm really very happy with his two easy goals. He was in the right place at the right time. We've worked a lot with him on that, but it's him who scored the hat-trick."

On the infirmary front, Chelsea registered on Wednesday the return from injury of its Spanish left back Marc Cucurella, who came on in the 79th minute. Wesley Fofana seemed injured upon his exit at the same time, but has since assured on X that he had "nothing at all."

Started at the right back position Wednesday night, which had the consequence of seeing Reece James in midfield, the Frenchman Malo Gusto also seemed muscularly affected upon his exit in the 75th minute, but Liam Rosenior had no more info on this subject after the match.

Before facing PSG next Wednesday in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, Chelsea will face Wrexham (a Championship club) this Saturday in the round of 16 of the FA Cup. Normally, the opportunity for Liam Rosenior to rotate before the big challenge against the reigning European champion.

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