Chelsea vs. Aston Villa: Score and Reaction from 2015 Premier League Match

Diego Costa scored and forced an own goal from Alan Hutton to hand Chelsea a 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday, the club's third win of the Premier League season.

The Spaniard took full advantage of a defensive blunder to hand the Blues the lead in the first half, and a lucky deflection in the second half meant the hosts were never really in doubt of winning.

It was far from a vintage performance from Chelsea, but after their dreadful start to the 2015-16 campaign, the Blues will gladly take the three points and build some momentum.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho made a handful of changes to his side, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek replacing Nemanja Matic in midfield and Abdul Rahman Baba getting his first Premier League start in favour of Branislav Ivanovic. 

Most notably, Eden Hazard was dropped to the bench despite the impressive form he showed during the international break, and Gary Cahill also lost his starting spot to Kurt Zouma.

Alastair Grant/Associated Press

With Hazard on the bench, Pedro saw more of the ball early, as the Spanish summer arrival was used as the main playmaker in attack. The former Barcelona man was in the thick of the action and set up Loftus-Cheek with a great shooting chance, but a last-minute block saw the ball roll out for a corner kick.

Hutton was the main danger man early for the visitors, finding lots of open space out wide. Baba Rahman had his hands full in the opening stages, and Asmir Begovic had to produce a quick save with his feet to deny Hutton the opening goal in the 11th minute.

As shared by the BBC's Michael Oti Adjei, Baba Rahman didn't look like much of an upgrade over Ivanovic early:

Chelsea looked solid in the attacking third, but for all of their movement and passing, chances were few. Villa comfortably held their own in midfield and looked the more threatening side, with Jack Grealish firing a shot straight at Begovic when a cross would have been a better idea.

Costa could have been through on goal by himself had he timed his run a little better, but Loftus-Cheek's superb effort to slip the Spaniard was wasted by Villa's high defensive line, which surprised Costa.

On the other side of the pitch, Begovic wasn't called into action on a free-kick from Jordan Ayew, with the ball sailing just over the bar. The Blues couldn't find any more success with their set pieces, with Willian deciding against firing on goal and laying the ball off to Zouma.

The young Frenchman blasted into the wall, and football writer Jake Cohen thought the sequence illustrated Mourinho's commitment to making some changes:

Chelsea were now in control of the match, but Villa remained dangerous on the counter. Rudy Gestede somehow managed to stay ahead of John Terry on a cross by Ayew and scooped the ball just over the bar, sending a clear warning to the Blues defence.

A horrible error from Brad Guzan finally gave the Blues the lead. The Villa goalkeeper tried to play a short pass to Joleon Lescott, who was being pressured by Willian. The defender couldn't control the ball, allowing Willian to break on goal and play it to a wide-open Costa, who tapped it home for the lead.

The Dirty Tackle's Brooks Peck thought Mourinho would be grateful:

Villa fan blog My Old Man Said wasn't too happy:

Another defensive error nearly led to a second goal for the Blues, as Costa intercepted a short pass before being brought down inside the box between Lescott and Kieran Richardson. The official decided against awarding a penalty, however.

The final chance of the half fell to Chelsea, but Loftus-Cheek put too much behind a pass inside the box, allowing Guzan to claim the ball.

Matic came into the side to replace Loftus-Cheek at half-time, as Mourinho tried to get a grip on the midfield proceedings, but Villa continued to do well in the battle for possession. Grealish easily beat Cesar Azpilicueta before firing wide, and the visitors seemed determined to find a goal of their own.

Unfortunately, they chose the wrong net. A shot from Costa took an ugly deflection off Hutton, completely wrong-footing Guzan. As shared by the Premier League's official Twitter account, the goal was officially credited to the unfortunate defender:

Per Bleacher Report UK, the home fans showed their sense of humour after the goal:

With the two-goal cushion, the Blues' play improved. Pedro, who was kept unusually quiet during the first half, started finding pockets of space and combining well with Willian, and a third goal seemed more likely than a Villa comeback.

Meanwhile, Villa's defence continued to pile on the errors, as Jordan Amavi gifted Willian another opportunity to run through on goal unmarked. The Brazilian again went looking for Costa, but this time, Villa's defence returned in time to deny the Spain international his second.

Lescott nearly surprised the Chelsea defence with 20 minutes left to play, finding an opening from a tight angle to knock the ball toward goal. Fortunately for the Blues, Azpilicueta was paying attention, clearing the ball off the line in the nick of time. Football Radar's Jack Rathborn was impressed:

"

Azpilicueta denies Lescott from point blank range, brilliant block #CFCvsAVL

— Jack Rathborn (@JackRathborn) October 17, 2015"

Cesc Fabregas nearly added a third after a great ball from Willian, but the former Barcelona man's shot went just wide of Guzan's goal. 

Hazard was introduced with seven minutes left to play, replacing Pedro. Per Bleacher Report UK, fantasy players across the globe probably went berserk:

The Belgian didn't have time to make a meaningful contribution, as the Blues closed up shop and easily held on for the 2-0 win. 

The win will give Chelsea a nice confidence boost ahead of their trip to Ukraine to take on Dynamo Kyiv on Tuesday. Dynamo currently sit ahead of Chelsea in the Group G standings, and a loss in Kyiv would greatly hurt the Blues' chances of making it to the knockout stages.

Villa continue to loiter in the bottom of the Premier League standings and will have to regroup ahead of next week's home match against Swansea City.

Post-Match Reaction

After the match, Mourinho explained his decision to start Hazard on the bench, and via the Independent's Miguel Delaney, he made it sound as if there's a problem brewing with the Belgian star:

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