Mason Mount and Kepa Arrizabalaga shine as Chelsea survive scare at Aston Villa

Mason Mount and Kepa Arrizabalaga were Chelsea’s heroes as they survived a scare at Aston Villa to maintain Graham Potter’s unbeaten start.

Mount bagged a brace – in front of watching England boss Gareth Southgate – to seal a battling 2-0 win at Villa Park.

But they needed Kepa to produce two stunning first-half stops to deny Jacob Ramsey and Danny Ings with Chelsea on the ropes.

Kepa. ✊#AvlChe pic.twitter.com/AE5rRSmj0E

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 16, 2022

The Blues have now won their last five in all competitions – keeping four clean sheets – and cemented fourth spot in the Premier League.

Defeat was harsh on an improved Villa, who rattled Chelsea, but they slipped closer to the drop zone.

Boss Steven Gerrard joined with Villa 16th and two points above the relegation zone, they now sit 16th and just a point above the bottom three almost 12 months into his reign.

He had been at pains to stress the fine margins which had seen his side draw three of their last four games and had demanded his players become headline makers.

The problem was Villa made all the wrong headlines as Chelsea were gifted a sixth-minute lead thanks to calamitous defending from Tyrone Mings.

Ramsey hardly covered himself in glory as he allowed Ben Chilwell to get past him and a half-hearted tackle only helped the ball loop towards Mings.

The defender was alone but completely miscued his header and it spun backwards for Mount to volley past the exposed Emi Martinez.

It was an embarrassing error, coming after Villa at least had Chelsea sweating in the opening minute when a hurried clearance from Mateo Kovacic saw Douglas Luiz test Kepa.

Bailey does brilliantly to get away for his man and deliver a cross for Ings but again, Arrizabalaga makes a