The England international scored and assisted as Enzo Maresca's side cruised to a comfortable victory at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea stretched their unbeaten run in the Premier League to five games and maintained their status as dark horses for the title with a comfortable 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday.
The Blues were worthy winners as they dominated from the moment Nicolas Jackson fired them into the lead in the seventh minute when he beat Emiliano Martinez at his near post from Marc Cucurella's low cross. Robert Sanchez did have to step up, however, to keep Ollie Watkins from equalising as the England striker bore down on goal after shrugging off Wesley Fofana.
At the other end, Jackson and Cole Palmer were denied by Martinez from close-range, but Enzo Maresca's side doubled their lead before half-time as Enzo Fernandez traded passes with Palmer on the edge of the Villa box before firing in a superb outside-of-the-foot strike.
After the break, the home side struggled to create many clear-cut opportunities until Palmer provided the cherry on the cake with a superb curling effort from 20 yards as the game entered its closing stages.
GOAL rates Chelsea's players from Stamford Bridge…
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Robert Sanchez (7/10):
One of his best performances of the season, which included two decent saves to deny Watkins. Confident in his distribution, too.
Moises Caicedo (6/10):
Started at right-back but spent most of the time drifting into central midfield. Not as influential as in recent weeks, but still a solid showing.
Wesley Fofana (6/10):
Got away with being outmuscled by Watkins on a couple of occasions, but also made a few late interventions to snuff out Villa attacks. Forced off with an injury around the hour mark.
Levi Colwill (8/10):
Exuded confidence at the heart of the Blues' backline, and made a couple of key blocks in the second half. Growing more and more into one of the Premier League's most dependable centre-backs.
Marc Cucurella (8/10):
Showed great determination to win the ball before delivering the cross for Jackson's opener. Shut down Philogene down the Villa right in another impressive display.
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Romeo Lavia (6/10):
Solid at the base of the Chelsea midfield. Stuck to his task of marking Rodgers well and played a couple of incisive passes.
Cole Palmer (8/10):
Sprinkled some quality onto moves in the final third, and his fine pass assisted Fernandez's goal, while his man-marking job on Tielemans stopped Villa from going through the playmaker. Capped his performance with a superb goal for 3-0.
Enzo Fernandez (7/10):
Grabbed his second goal in as many Premier League games with a fine outside-of-the-foot strike. Busy otherwise as he looks to hold down his starting role.
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Pedro Neto (7/10):
Caused Digne all sorts of problems down the Chelsea right, and delivered a couple of dangerous crosses after cutting back onto his left foot.
Nicolas Jackson (7/10):
Fine finish opened the scoring, but he will feel he really should have finished the game with more goals after wasting good one-on-one opportunities.
Jadon Sancho (5/10):
Earned a rare Premier League start, and while he looked to take on Cash at every opportunity, couldn't create much of note.
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Benoit Badiashile (6/10):
Solid after replacing the injured Fofana for the final 30 minutes.
Christopher Nkunku (6/10):
Given a 20-minute runout after replacing Jackson up front, and fired narrowly wide in stoppage-time.
Noni Madueke (6/10):
Got himself an assist and a booking in his eventful cameo.
Joao Felix (N/A):
Almost scored immediately after replacing Palmer, and then picked up a yellow card.
Malo Gusto (N/A):
On in the closing stages.
Enzo Maresca (8/10):
Decision to play Caicedo at right-back meant his side were able to dominate in midfield, and while the Blues weren't at their free-flowing best, they never looked like losing as the Italian coach's ideas continue to pay dividends.