Aston Villa fell to defeat on the road in Premier League 2 on Friday night, losing 4-1 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Two goals in each half – from Ishe Samuels-Smith and Shumaira Mheuka, and then Donnell McNeilly and Brodi Hughes – meant the damage was done for Josep Gombau’s side with 20 minutes to go.
Substitute Rory Wilson did grab a late consolation for the Young Lions in the closing stages, but they were unable to take anything more in their final away league outing of the campaign.
Chelsea started fast and ferociously in West London, taking the lead with less than a minute on the clock.
Genesis Antwi drove through the heart of the visiting defence with poise and purpose, pulling back inside the area for Samuels-Smith who calmly stroked into the bottom corner.
Villa responded, Mason Cotcher forcing a smart stop from Lucas Bergstrom having been found by George Hemmings, but the Blues were much the aggressors, and had doubled their advantage with the game just 10 minutes old.
Antwi again caused the Villans problems, this time down Chelsea’s right-hand side, darting to the byline and dinking a ball in which was only partially cleared as far as Mheuka. The forward took a touch to steady himself and blasted into the back of the net.
Gombau’s charges struggled to hold possession for any sustained period throughout, and the hosts kept coming as they looked for a third before half-time.
Four minutes after adding their second, Sam Proctor had to be alert to keep out McNeilly from inside the area.
And Villa had their goalkeeper to thank again just after the half-hour, as he stood firm and showed impressive reflexes to deny Mheuka what looked a certain second, as he crashed a powerful header towards goal.
The dangerous Mheuka threatened again as the break approached, with Thierry Katsukunya this time required to hack the ball off the line, as the referee brought the opening period to a close with Villa two goals down.
The beginning of the second half brought a renewed composure from the visiting side, as they searched for a way back into the game, but the Blues soon regained their foothold as they looked to stretch their advantage beyond reach.
Within 10 minutes of the restart, Proctor was again tested, first denying Harrison Murray-Campbell’s looping header from a corner, before moments later producing a fine double stop to keep substitute Ronnie Stutter and Sam Rak-Sakyi at bay.
But it wouldn’t take much longer for the West London outfit to add a third, as a free-kick was dinked to the far post allowing McNeilly to lash past Proctor on the volley.
And six minutes later, things would go from bad to worse for Villa. Kiano Dyer showed good awareness to drift away from the visiting defence and into a shooting position on the edge of the area. His effort deflected high into the air, and Hughes beat Proctor to the ball to head home a fourth.
The Villans fought until the end, looking for a way back into the encounter, and were rewarded for their efforts three minutes from time, Wilson breaking clear inside the area and finishing neatly past substitute goalkeeper Luke Campbell.
But that was about as good as it got for the away side, with Wilson’s effort proving little more than a consolation, as Villa left the capital empty handed.
