Chelsea player ratings vs Aston Villa as angry Cole Palmer impresses but four 5/10s flop

CHELSEA 1-2 ASTON VILLA: Full player ratings for the Blues after they played out a draw with Unai Emery's Villa side at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening

A double from Ollie Watkins in the second-half was enough for Aston Villa to overcome Chelsea, who threw away a one-goal lead at Stamford Bridge.

Villa march on in the Premier League title race, with Unai Emery's team now winning 11 matches in a row. Chelsea, meanwhile, will be ruing a host of missed opportunities, especially in the first-half when the hosts were dominant.

The Blues took the lead on 37 minutes with Reece James' corner hitting Joao Pedro's leg before finding its way into the back of the net. It was all a dominant Chelsea deserved in what was an impressive, albeit at times frustrating, period up until the opener.

The hosts continued to create chances in west London, with John McGinn almost converting the ball past his own goalkeeper early in the second-half. But it was Villa that scored the second goal of the game courtesy of Watkins, who had just came on as a substitute moments before.

And it was Watkins again who scored with around five minutes of normal time remaining, with the Villa striker finding himself unmarked form a corner to win it for the visitors. Below, football.london rates the Chelsea players based on their performance:

Robert Sanchez

Sanchez had nothing to do in the first-half but the Spaniard did well to come out and claim a dangerous cross early into the second period. Moments after that, he was off his line quickly to prevent Boubacar Kamara, who was through one-on-one. A bit unlucky for Watkins' goal. 7.

Reece James

A great recovery tackle on five minutes to stop Morgan Rogers in a dangerous area. James is playing at an unbelievable level right now. It feels like every 50/50 he is winning. He has that little bit more than everyone opposition player he comes up against. Gets an assist, too. 8.

Trevoh Chalobah

Chalobah saw plenty of the ball - as he so often does. He also did well in some sticky situations where Villa sometimes outnumbered Chelsea on the counter-attack. 6.

Benoit Badiashile

Badiashile did really well to stand up Rogers and stop the Villa attacker around six minutes in when the visitors had a two-v-two situation in front of the Matthew Harding Stand. There were a couple of situations similar when the Frenchman did excellently. Like Chalobah, had plenty of the ball. 6.

Marc Cucurella

Cucurella was, as always, involved in the thick of the action. Not least by winding up John McGinn. Cucurella was, too, key in stopping transitions from Villa. 6.

Moises Caicedo

Caicedo, like Cucurella, played a big part in preventing a few counter-attacks. His reading of the game - as usual - was excellent and he was unfortunate not to score with a wonderful strike in the first-half. 7.

Enzo Fernandez

Fernandez had a fantastic chance to open the scoring early on but couldn't find the target. Should have done better, no doubt. Not able to get too involved. 6.

Pedro Neto

Neto looked a threat on the right-hand side at the start, but tailed off. Could have had an assist on 24 minutes after finding Joao Pedro with a lovely cross, though the Brazilian's shot was well saved. Frustrating in the second period. 5.

Cole Palmer

Started really brightly - almost opening the scoring inside two minutes. Made some clever passes to help break the lines. Almost had an assist early in the second-half after a fantastic ball across goal. The England star then reacted furiously when he was substituted. 7.

Alejandro Garnacho

Garnacho seems to always be in dangerous positions, but his end product - more often than not - lets the winger down. Bright but you have to say, at times, frustrating. 5.

Joao Pedro

The Brazilian had a chance to score on 24 minutes but saw his instinctive effort saved. But he did find the back of the net later in the first-half, with James' corner deflecting off Joao Pedro for his second goal in as many games. 8.

Malo Gusto (on for Cucurella 69')

Gusto did fine when coming on, with the Frenchman playing at left-back. 6.

Jamie Gittens (on for Garnacho 69')

Gittens didn't get too much of the ball after being brought on for the final 20-or-so minutes. 5.

Liam Delap (on for Joao Pedro 69')

Booked inside two minutes of being on the pitch for dissent. Not impactful. 5.

Estevao Willian (on for Palmer 72')

Not really enough time to make the desired impact. 6.