For a mid-table evening sideshow to follow an afternoon of thrills and spills at the top and bottom, this was still high-class Premier League entertainment.
And between two shy managers, neither rock-star quote machines, both offering steadiness over turbulence, it was Unai Emery who prevailed over Graham Potter.
Emery’s quiet, technocratic approach continues to win approval with Villa fans while Potter remains Chelsea’s uneasy fit, his team’s recent revival forgotten with this reverse, where his opposite number’s careful gameplan paid off.
Villa’s success, though, owed much to Chelsea’s panicky, poor finishing. Where Ollie Watkins was cool in scoring the first and John McGinn powerful and precise with the second, Chelsea’s hoicked a myriad of shots wide, incapable of turning their dominance of possession into goals.