Super-sub Watkins scores twice as Villa beat Chelsea to win 11th in a row!

0:28This is the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. Aston Villa very much in this three-way battle for the title and it's Oli Watkins who's rescued them in their Christmas program coming off the bench to hit two and turn around this game against Chelsea of whom they now move ten points clear they are up there on the shoulders of Manchester City and the leaders Arsenal who they play next on Oli Watkins 30th birthday but the celebrations for him today are clear and present because in a game that for Villa didn't promise much in the first half when they conceded to a Rhys James corner turned in by Xiao Pedro it was transformed by a triple substitution from Unai Emery and Cole Palmer dejected when he was taken off pretty much sums up the mood here at Chelsea at the moment because Villa have moved further clear of them and restated their own credentials to stay up there this season with Arsenal and with City.

1:35It has finished here at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea 1, Aston Villa 2. And it's a win that has equaled the all-time club record of 11 successive wins for Aston Villa. From a goal down, Steve, to winning it 2-1. Did you expect it? Well no not at all, not at half time, when we've done the analysis and the way we see Aston Villa play in the first half they were very very poor, couldn't get out of their own half, you know with their four complete passes in the final third. But you know in football when the score is 1-0 and me and Jamie have been on a team, when we've experienced this, you're just waiting for that one moment, just a half chance, just a bit of play to give yourself a bit of confidence and that's all this Aston Villa team needs and we see that and they just built on that and grew and grew.

2:22and this Villa team doesn't know when it's beaten. They are superb and the movement that they are on, they are fully in the fast lane at the moment. How much, Jamie, does it tell you about the reaction in that second half from this Aston Villa team? Absolutely. It showed they've got quality, it showed they've got real character but they've also got Ollie Watkins. That was one of the great impacts on the sub in Premier League history. Honestly, the way that he'd come on, he'd changed the whole complexion of the match. Obviously, Jadon Sancho had an impact and Inanna But those three subs, especially him, it was absolutely incredible.

2:55They couldn't handle him, couldn't handle his pace, his skill, his aggression. It was a brilliant intervention from him and he completely changed that game around. It was amazing. It was because I think Steve's right. First off, you couldn't see anything else. But this side right now has a confidence and a belief about itself. And when you're bringing on subs, they're not coming on with the arm. They're not thinking, oh, I'm not involved. I don't want to run around. They're coming on knowing they're going to make a difference. and that was amazing for him. Absolutely top class. I'm really looking forward to talking to him and seeing what his thoughts were because you don't know players about not being involved, not happy about not playing, but he was amazing today.

3:30You can see the celebrations from the Aston Villa players and what it means to them, but will Chelsea be questioning how they let that go in the second half? It sums Chelsea up. I mean, look, you talk about a team, you know, people are saying they're a few years away from even challenging for the title, but they've not won consecutive back-to-back home games to the Premier League this season. I mean, for a team that's trying to cement themselves in the top four, that's not good enough for Chelsea Football Club. And that's just been the story of them, you know, from the start to now. So, listen, they'll be kicking themselves.

4:01First half, they were brilliant. You know, they created chances. They strangled Aston Villa. The game plan worked really well. They needed one more goal. They didn't get that goal.

4:14Well, Oli Watkins, certainly very happy at full time. came on as a substitute and certainly made a very, very big impact. I'm delighted to say we can speak to Oli Watkins live now. Oli, congratulations. That must have felt like a really big win tonight. Yeah, amazing. Amazing win. Obviously, for me personally, to come on and score two goals is a great feeling. But, you know, to keep up this run and to come away here and to beat Chelsea at a tough place is amazing. It's the word to sum it up really. What were you thinking when you were watching the first half, you were on the bench and what did the manager say to you when you were brought on?

4:56What kind of impact did he want you to make? He changed it because Chelsea were going man for man, but they had the extra centre back when we were going long. So when I came on second half, he brought Sancho on the wing and Morgan and I think it gave us a little bit more space and then put Yuri in the number 10. So we had an extra body up there and yeah, tactical genius I would say. Ollie, Steve, Sidwell, congrats on the victory today. I just want to dive into your own personal sort of headspace. You've probably not been as clinical this season as you've been in and the standards that you've set in previous seasons, but you never seem to get flustered.

5:42You've got a real calmness in your personality on the pitch and off the pitch. And I said at the start of the show that you probably had a bit of fire in your belly when you was watching from the bench to come on and do what you've done. So just to see where you're at at the moment in your own game. Yeah, obviously not where I want to be. As a striker, you want to be scoring every game. So if you're not doing that, then you want to be playing well and helping the team. I feel like I've had some good performances this year, but maybe not at the standard that I've set for myself and put a bit of pressure on myself.

6:15And yeah, the highs and lows of football, you know how it is. You've played the game. So yeah, I haven't been where I wanted to be, but I can use this as a marker now and push on from here for the back end of the season. Oli, Jamie, Redham, let's talk about the highs of football, because that's as good as, obviously, the way you came onto that pitch and made such a difference, it was absolutely incredible. Amazing, as you said. So let's talk through the first goal. It felt like you had a really good piece of passage of play just before the goal and then you got a little bit of confidence and obviously you coming onto the pitch made a massive difference and that confidence came from there.

6:54Just talk us through this goal. Yeah, I think I just tried to stay in between the centre-backs. obviously Morgan's found me here. My touch, I felt it was a little bit heavy. Look, I've got a nice little ricochet off me but sometimes you need that luck. It's hard to obviously turn and hold off a strong centre-back like that. Yeah, I can't say that's a classy finish at the end of the day because it's just hit me off my knee but I'll take it all day long. You get your left arm up there, Ollie, just and that makes such a difference, just to give you that half a yard and that you get you you deserve that bit of luck yeah yeah and you have to put yourself in that position to to obviously get that um and then building off that uh you know i felt a lot more confident um grew into the game i had some other opportunities as well and um and then yeah i think the second one's a lot better than the first well here we go i can see that smile on your face talk us through it because obviously comes from a corner you end up in a nice area really and i I think Marlon Gusteau's marking you.

7:55You probably can't believe you're luckier. Yeah, I felt like they were stood off us. Obviously, they had a lot of chances from our own corners. They were countering and stuff like that. But I've just gave him a little shove. And he wasn't marking me too tightly. So, yeah, it's basically a free header. And, yeah, it's nice to see that not roll into the corner, but float into the corner. And, yeah, it was a nice moment for me. And a great header. and this sets you up nicely for obviously a really difficult game against Arsenal, but have you got that feeling at the moment of almost invincibility?

8:30You think that it doesn't matter if you go a goal behind, I think that's 18 points from losing positions or 17 points now that you've got. You feel like you could beat anybody at the moment? Yeah, I feel like teams are worried about us. You know, they're thinking, oh, we've got Villa next. Even if we may not play the prettiest football at times because we're sat behind the ball and just defending, but they know we're going to eventually cause them problems when we do string a few passes together and grow into the game. So we're taking each game as it comes and just focusing on ourselves, really.

9:05Obviously, there's a lot of talk about us, people asking the question of winning the title and stuff like that, but, you know, that's a long way away, and we're just focusing on the next game. Oli, you've got Arsenal coming up next, which we've said. It is on your 30th Thursday, though, so how much are you looking forward to that game? Yeah, really looking forward to it. A lot of family coming to it. I've got a lot of family that support them so they can be in the other end and hopefully watch me have the same outcome tonight in a couple of days. Oli, thank you so much for your time. Well done today.

9:41Well done, Oli. Thank you very much. Cheers, guys. Thank you. Well, really good to hear from Oli Watkins there. It's interesting, isn't it, what the players will be feeling like, especially with Aston Villa, this run that they're going on, the confidence. He said it's still the early days to start talking about a title race, but they're absolutely in it. Yeah, and they're full of confidence right now. There's no better place as a footballer or as a coach. Every substitution you make, you feel like you've got a chance of it paying off. And obviously, three substitutions that you made had a massive impact on the game.

10:10In terms of winning the title, I'm a massive fan. Massive fan of the manager of the players, you just worry if they've got the strong enough squad. I think the January transfer window is going to be a really important one for them. If they can go and acquire a couple of players and just beef that squad up, I think they possibly could have a chance. I just feel that right now, Arsenal and Man City are just a bit ahead of them. And that's not because I don't want any hate from Aston Villa fans. I'm just saying that's how I see it. I think they've done amazingly well. And to the players, the system and everything that the manager does.

10:38And one thing for sure with him, he knows how to win. He knows how to win competitions. He's an incredible, he's a master tactician and a brilliant manager. Yeah, absolutely. All right, then let's have a look at what changed for Aston Villa then when Unai Emery made that triple substitution because not long after that, they had a really good chance. Well, we said that we'd like, Jay, you've heard the video. We said that at the start, you just need something to start, you know, a catalyst, whether it's a chance, a half chance, a corner, and they get the substitutions and then this is the chance really that gives them the impetus to go on and have a bit of belief and confidence in this game.

11:11Yeah, but you mentioned it, Steve, just after the game finished and sometimes you need just a passage of play don't you and they obviously chose you in a good position and they lose it and this is probably the first time in the match where a little bit of space opened up every time they got it they'd lost it all of a sudden you've got players like Jadon Sancho Morgan Rodgers on this side and then they work it really well Steve and they pass it with like purpose with force precision and detail and that is what you need to get up the pitch and then when you do that and you've got willing runners to get in behind like Kamara does as well now what a goal that would have been at a time where they was probably really on their knees so that then just sparked that little bit of life into them and just go we're well and truly in this game now It was amazing really I think from the manager's point of view because what happens when you make great substitutions it looks like wow that's incredible what he's done and if you didn't know better you'd think I tell you what we're going to do lads first half we're going to be terrible we're going to be absolutely useless and in second half we're going to come out and make a couple of substitutions we're going to win this game but obviously that hasn't happened because he's a much better manager than that but they were so off it in the first half.

12:12The system didn't really work. I didn't feel that Morgan Rodgers playing as a sort of a 4-4-2 alongside Marlon didn't work for me. And then he changed it and he made some important substitutions and then you start to get players, what I would call, starting to play in their best position. Now, straight away, that automatically looks like a better system for me. You've got Jadon Sancho out on the right. You've got Tielemans just behind Ollie Watkins. I think it suits Tielemans. He found it really difficult playing here in the first half because he was having to get attracted with Cole Palmer, kept having the run that way.

12:43So you've got Inanna and Kamara, and then you've got Morgan Rodgers in a position. Steve mentioned this right at the top of the show, and he's exactly right. Off that left-hand side, where he can just drift into these areas here, into these pockets, obviously what happens is Badia Shield gives away the ball really cheaply, but then once that happens, it just shows what Aston Villa do really, really well. Straight away, you've got a nice shape there. Now, Inanna's got that one. He knows that pass is going to get played into me. Now, the key is this and this. You've got two players. Once that ball changes hands, they need to narrow up really quickly.

13:17Does Chalibur get across quickly enough? No. Rhys James is thinking from a forward perspective, if that ball gets played out to me, I can get up the line. We can get Neto in the game. We've got a chance to score in. But because, as Steve mentioned before, they've got their tails up. Now the ball gets played. He wins it right now. Can we get this into our best player? Absolutely. I will just take that back because I love what he does there. It's so important. Just watch how he checks his shoulder. He knows now. Just checks to the right. Have I got time? Yes, absolutely. Now, Morgan Rodgers, sorry, Ollie Watkins does really well because he's got his body shape there.

13:50He's got his back to him really at the moment. But then what he does is open his body shape up. Now that he will want that ball, if possible, just played into this space. And watch how quickly Ollie Watkins changes his foot pattern. Chalabar doesn't narrow up. It gets to him, but obviously Oli Watkins does so well. Now, that pace of pass has to be fast. It gets it into him on the half term. Yes, element of luck, but that was how the game changed. And that little bit of play was so key, Steve, wasn't it? It's just how Villa really set up. They go with that sort of box midfield where they just sort of see more and more and more compact.

14:22And then the presence of just Inanna, you know, there. And then this is the area. You know, we spoke about this area at the top of the show, like you said. that when he gets in this position, Rodgers, you know he can cause damage. And like you said there, Ollie Watkins, as soon as Rodgers secures the pass, secures the ball, Rodgers knows that he can then get on his bike. And yeah, the first touch did get away from him, but the left arm to get out because Trevor's a real strong boy as well. And that's the luck that he needs sometimes. But like I say, he's not been hitting the standards in the form that he set in previous seasons, but he carries on doing the exact same run.

14:57doesn't go from what's given him success in previous games. And the pass, I think, from Morgan Rodgers looks a relatively simple one, but it's not. It has to be perfect. It has to be fast. It has to be at the right pace. And then it gives Ollie Watkins the chance to get it under his spell. He mentioned it was a poor first. I didn't think it was, really. It was a hard one because Chalabar's coming. But that left arm is everything, isn't it? He just gives him that moment. And all of a sudden, you're back in the game. and there was only really going to be one winner from there, Pien, because Chelsea are completely gone and Aston Villa, because of that confidence, were in the ascendancy.

15:33Set up from the corner, what do you think, Steve? Well, we was looking at it, wasn't we? Chelsea are in a sort of a zonal, a few players on the zonal, which we see a lot now from different players. Well, let's highlight. So, is it Chalabras at the front post? I think he's probably too far forward there. I think he could do with being a few yards back. You've got Badia Schiel and then you've got De Lapp. And what changed? The substitutions that made, I think, Villa a much bigger side, because you can see Inanna and you can see then, obviously, the players in and around them and Oli Watkins, they make the team just a lot bigger from those situations.

16:05Yeah, I just feel as though there's no one really highlighted on Oli Watkins. Is it Enzo on Inanna there? Is it Casado on Konza? But you look at Oli Watkins and then we'll find that Augusto gets back in time to mark him, but there's no one really set on someone who's just come on, scored a goal, made an impact in the game as well. you're thinking you need to get close to him. I think that tells you everything. I think Gusto's thinking, is that one going to get played back to him? Because Aston Villa don't mind that one and it comes in in a first-time pass. But it doesn't. And then once he gets back in, I don't think he shows any appetite to head it.

16:35I think he almost ducks down because he's worried about what's behind him. And then you can see it. Look, he's looking. OK, now I've got to become like a blocker defender. I'm not really... I don't really want any of this. This isn't for me. It's too easy. He gets pushed out of the way. Doesn't do enough. Just keep your eye on him there. Number 27. Not enough. If you're blocking, because you talk now about blockers and you talk about markers, he's doing neither. And that's no good. In the game, you're one-all. I'll just take that back. Look. One second. Hold on. Just take that back. I just think this sums it up a little bit, really.

17:06Number 27 there. Just keep your eye on him as he jumps. Is that a man that's trying to attack the ball? Watch. Is he trying to attack that? Not really. He's got his head down. He's worried about someone's going to hit him on the back of the head. Unfortunately, you need to hang in there this time. and that really was a massive moment and I've not done enough justice to Oli's header because it was a brilliant goal but he summed it up nicely and then you can just see that confidence and everyone's running away. The fans are involved, they're engaged, they love their team right now. They're in the ascendancy, Steve.

17:35They don't know when they beat this Villa team, they really don't and with the manager at the helm as well, it's just, you know, they've picked up more points from losing positions and dropped the least points from winning positions. That tells you straight away in games and Oli said it there, it's not the most prettiest of times because they sit back and they do suck up you know a lot of possession but when they get their noses in front they know how to keep in front and then when they when they're behind they know how to get to chase and get a goal because that's what they do they're just relentless they'll keep on going to the end and when it gets to 85 minutes 87 minutes they'll go and take the ball to the corner flag you know they'll sort of gain management they'll waste time just to get the win over the line and like I say you know another few results these are well in the mix.

18:15And I think as management as well, I think it helps. Because yes, he changed it, but realising, I've got it maybe wrong in the first half. I don't know what he's going to say and whether he'll get asked the question, but I felt first half, it didn't work. It wasn't working. So then you have to change it. You look at the system. Oli said they went man for man. Yes, they did. But it wasn't even so much that. It's just they started to play a little bit. And you've got players in their right positions. That's football. If you play too many players in the wrong position, you're not going to get success.

18:40Second, last half an hour of the game, people started to play. Morgan Rodgers, the most important player, exciting player, the one that makes you tick, come into that position, Pien, and all of a sudden everything starts to click. There will be questions being asked of the Chelsea performance in that second half, but they had a really good first half performance and João Pedro able to get the opening goal. Let's have a look at it because there was a brilliant corner actually taken for Rhys James, who said it was his goal. I wonder when he watches it back what he will be thinking, but João Pedro at the end got the touch.

19:08Yeah, and I think we did this at half time, Steve, didn't we? And obviously Martinez, the goalkeeper there, is obviously worth keeping an eye on because he's got a fellow countryman there just behind him and he's causing a real problem, Fernandes. He doesn't know whether to just leave him alone. He ends up having a fight with him. The goal scorer is just there, Jal Pedro. Good delivery that comes in, Steve. And they just get themselves in a bit of a mess. They highlight their keeper. Look, you see, Chalabar first of all, he comes in. Then Enzo obviously has a little go. Then Pedro. So he's never set.

19:38He's never set Martinez at all. And, you know, Brees James has done this call so many times where they just float the ball in. They want to cause carnage. Look how many bodies there are in and around that six-yard box. Look how many players there are around Martinez there. He can never get set. He can never predict where it's going to go because there's so many bodies. It could ricochet. And look, it comes off the shin or the outside leg of Jean-Pedro. But look, he's still fighting. The ball, as it's coming down here, he hasn't even got his arms up. He's not set. He doesn't know where he is. He's flustered by what's going on around him.

20:10Like you say, he's just fighting everyone at the moment. And then before you know it, we get a little bit of luck from Charles Pedro where it comes off and claims the goal. Just comes off the back of his calf just there. The slightest deflection. He'll take that. He needed a goal. And then, as we both said, I think, Steve, they were so much better first half, Chelsea. They were so comfortable. You couldn't really see Aston Villa getting back into this game. But the only reason why you did is because you know how much confidence they've got. and they are an elite team coming back from these positions.

20:41How will Chelsea be feeling after this performance though? Because we spoke before about sort of inconsistency, I suppose, in results. People are expecting more from this Chelsea team. When you see them performing like they did in the first half to then how they performed in the second half, how disappointed will they be? I think it doesn't help in terms of like there's been lots of games and I've seen that inconsistency of the first half against Newcastle. If you flip it, you think, well, they were so poor first half. Second half, they were excellent. And they come into a game now and it just feels like they were so in control.

21:12And then second half, those three substitutions, yes, masterclass from the manager of Aston Villa. But from Chelsea's point of view, you can't all of a sudden just capitulate like you did. I don't remember them creating another real chance, a real opportunity. Esteval had a couple of little moments, but not enough. And that isn't ever really going to get you in a position where you're going to be winning or competing for titles. And of late, things have just gone the other way. and there's no real confidence or belief in the team. Yeah, you feel as though there's a real lack of know-how in games.

21:43Earlier in the season, where they performed so well against Barcelona and Champions League and Arsenal, then they go to Leeds and try and play the same way. You're away at Leeds, you can't do that. It's the same again today. They just need that real clinical edge and a real cutting way of winning games. We know the model with Chelsea. it's going to be youth and giving them experience. I think it's been 90 games since they've played someone that's over the age of 30, which was Thiago Silva. They need someone with an experience hitting that team. Hi, everyone. Tom White here. Welcome to Sky Sports FC, the place to have your say on the biggest football stories.

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22:54Welcome back to the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. Let's get back to the studio for more reaction to today's game. Well, it surely was a good end to the day for Unai Emery and his Aston Villa side, who secured victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. That is now equaling a club record of 11 successive victories in a row and some really big wins, actually, in and amongst these. Arsenal, of course, Manchester United and tonight Chelsea too. So I'm sure there's one very happy manager. Let's hear from Unai Emery now. He's with Patrick Davidson. Unai, it's a special resilience that your team seems to have.

23:34How, again today, have you found a way to win from such a difficult situation? Good evening, yes, of course. But we know, we know it. And before the match, we were speaking about how we could keep our mentality and our consistency. The Chelsea was defending when they needed to dominate like usually they are doing the match and playing at home of course. Our plan was to try to dominate a bit of our momentum in the first half better than we did but they were pushing us, they were pressing very good and they were as well dominating with the ball more than us. But we were resilient, we were defending, we were feeling comfortable defending and And this is one thing, even struggling, we must feel it.