chelsea Their Champions League aspirations were given a huge boost with a stunning 4-1 win over Aston Villa thanks to a sensational hat-trick from Joao Pedro.
Pedro’s maiden Premier League treble lifted Liam Rosenior’s side into the top five, closing the gap on fourth-placed struggling Villa to just three points.
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Cole Palmer also found the net in a memorable evening for the Blues, who showed remarkable resilience to overcome an early deficit after Douglas Luiz’s early goal.
This performance was the strongest of Rosenior’s two-month tenure, giving him great confidence for the remainder of the season.
Luiz’s strike inside three minutes initially boosted Villa’s hopes of fulfilling their Champions League ambitions, but the night ultimately turned sour for the home side.
They have now won just one of their last six games and are in real danger of falling out of the race for a place in next season’s most prestigious club competition.
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And Unai Emery’s men feel they must win their way into the Europa League.
Chelsea boss Rosenior decided to sack goalkeeper Robert Sanchez after a difficult time against Arsenal on Sunday and replaced him with Filip Jorgensen.
And the Dane was there to find the ball in the net after just 150 seconds as Villa made the brilliant start.
Leon Bailey did well down the right and his cutback was parried by Ollie Watkins, allowing Luiz to score the first goal of his second spell at Villa Park.
Chelsea’s Joao Pedro, left, celebrates his hat-trick goal at Villa Park (Nick Potts/PA)
Chelsea responded well and Villa needed a flying save from Emiliano Martínez to keep out Pedro’s header, before Palmer forced the Argentine into another save with a shot from distance.
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But Villa should have doubled their lead in the 23rd minute. Martínez kicked the ball long, Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana fell in search of a free-kick and Watkins raced towards goal but fired a weak shot straight at Jorgensen under pressure from Trevoh Chalobah.
Watkins had another good chance soon after Emiliano Buendia played him in, but Jorgensen beat the shot with his hand.
The busy goalkeeper then did well to block Morgan Rogers’ 34th-minute shot and it proved crucial as the game turned around 44 seconds later.
Enzo Fernandez played in Malo Gusto, who beat the offside trap and placed the ball on the plate for Pedro to strike home from close range and level.
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Villa thought they were ahead again five minutes later as Watkins finally beat Jorgensen, but he carelessly overstepped his run and was ruled offside by VAR.
But it was Chelsea who went ahead at half-time as Pedro scored again in the sixth minute of time. The former Brighton striker was slipped by Fernandez and his smart dinked finish found the bottom corner.
Things got even better for the visitors 10 minutes after the restart as Palmer made it 3–1. Martínez carelessly headed Reece James’ cross straight to the England international, who curled a low finish past a pile of corpses.
Villa were falling apart and Pedro took possession of the match with his hat-trick of goals in the 64th minute. Alejandro Garnacho raced down the left and dodged his teammate, who could not miss from close range.
Garnacho could have made it five with another counter attack, but he fired straight at Martínez.
