Mason Mount double and Arrizabalaga heroics ensure Chelsea sink Aston Villa

The last thing Steven Gerrard needed was to encounter a goalkeeper who chose this occasion to produce the arguably best performance of his Premier League career. Kepa Arrizabalaga has not had too many such afternoons since his £72m arrival four years ago but denied Aston Villa with an outstanding exhibition of his art, two first-half saves from Jacob Ramsey and Danny Ings taking the breath away. Those were far from his only interventions and they meant Graham Potter, whose side put in the worst performance of his tenure, could hail a fifth straight win even if Chelsea hardly deserved it.

They prevailed because Villa, unable to apply the decisive touch at one end, self-destructed at the other. A glaring mistake from Tyrone Mings gave Mason Mount the opener on a plate; Mings and Emiliano Martínez then both had cause for dissatisfaction with their actions around the second-half free-kick, albeit superbly executed, from which the same player killed proceedings off. Chelsea’s revival continues apace but the embattled Gerrard saw the prospect of a transformative outcome slip away.

Gerrard could hardly legislate for the kind of individual error that devastates best-laid plans. Villa had begun brightly but looked unsteady when Ben Chilwell picked a path infield towards their penalty area. In attempting to rob his opponent, Ramsey sent the ball looping up into the air; it seemed to offer Mings a routine clearance but he misread the flight, his header skimming backwards and offering Mount, anticipating sharply, a sidefooted finish from close range.

Ings had been given his first start since 28 August as Gerrard tinkered in search of a winning combination in attack. It almost bore fruit within 65 seconds but Mateo Kovacic, covering