Chelsea player ratings vs Aston Villa: Hat-trick hero close to perfect 10, Palmer influential
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Chelsea secured an important 4-1 Premier League win over top-five rivals Aston Villa on Wednesday, thanks to Joao Pedro's hat-trick.
It was a disastrous start to the match for Chelsea, who were caught off guard by Villa's early pressure.
Douglas Luiz put the hosts ahead after just two minutes, forcing Chelsea to open up the game in search of an equaliser instead of their usual plan to maintain control.
However, Villa paid for their high defensive line when Enzo Fernandez found Malo Gusto with a lob. The right-back sent a perfect cross for Joao Pedro to level the score in the 35th minute.
Villa were close to retaking the lead shortly after as Ollie Watkins put the ball past Filip Jorgensen from a counter-attack.
The England international, however, was slightly offside. The disallowed goal eventually proved decisive.
Chelsea once again beat Villa's offside traps, once again through Joao Pedro, just before half-time.
Cole Palmer doubled Chelsea's lead 10 minutes into the second half, capitalising on Emiliano Martinez's poor parry inside the box.
With a two-goal lead, Chelsea posed a lot of counter-attacking threats as Villa desperately tried to throw more bodies in attack.
Joao Pedro completed his hat-trick in the 64th minute thanks to Alejandro Garnacho's selfless pass. 4-1, the game was all but over.
A HUGE WIN! 🙌#CFC | #AVLCHE pic.twitter.com/C0viYsFHPS
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) March 4, 2026
With this win, Chelsea have now climbed back to fifth in the Premier League table, cutting the gap to fourth-placed Villa to just three points.
Here are the Chelsea player ratings vs Aston Villa, according to SofaScore.
Starting XI
Filip Jorgensen: 6.6
Malo Gusto: 7.2
Wesley Fofana: 6.3
Trevoh Chalobah: 7.0
Jorrel Hato: 6.8
Reece James: 7.1
Moises Caicedo: 7.1
Enzo Fernandez: 7.3
Cole Palmer: 8.7
Alejandro Garnacho: 7.7
Joao Pedro: 9.6
Substitutes
Romeo Lavia: 6.6
Tosin Adarabioyo: 6.7
Marc Cucurella: 7.0
Andrey Santos: 6.5
Liam Delap: 6.3
Gerry Crisandy is a freelance writer who has covered Chelsea for many years. His work has been published on The Chelsea Chronicle and Pride of London. He grew up idolising Michael Ballack and is a firm believer in expected goals.