It was the same old story for Chelsea.
The chances were there, but there was no power in front of the goal.
Against Aston Villa, they had 27 shots, eight of which were on target, and had 69 percent possession. But they couldn’t score, and they lost 2-0.
Graham Potter’s side have dominated at Stamford Bridge, but defeat means they have dropped to the bottom of the Premier League table.
Their scoring struggles have been consistent this season – their 29 goals scored are 12 fewer than their Premier League rivals and better than relegation strugglers Leeds United and Leicester City, who have 36 respectively. And scored 39 goals.
He had an expected goals-against figure of 2.09 on Saturday but was unable to find the net.
Chelsea’s problems continue to weigh on Potter, with the club spending more than £550m since Todd Bohley took over last summer.
Some sections of Stamford Bridge again mocked the performance after the match with the ‘Potter Out’ trend on social media.
The former Brighton boss took responsibility for the defeat, but ex-Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink backed the manager, saying he should “stay with Potter”.
‘We were second-best’
Chelsea have lost and failed to score in four Premier League home games this season – only twice since the competition’s inception – in 1994-95 and 2019-20.
Potter admitted his side, who face Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals this month, were not at their best against Villa.
Ben Chilwell put the ball into the net for the Blues, but his effort was disallowed for a push on the back of Ashley Young.
Mykhailo Modric – signed in January in an £89m deal – wasted Chelsea’s best chance when he attempted a one-on-one with Emiliano Martinez.
Kai Havertz and Joao Felix saw efforts saved, while N’Golo Kante and Christian Pulisic missed chances.
“There’s always disappointment after defeat,” Potter told Match of the Day. “There’s always a feeling that we haven’t progressed, it’s fair to say. We have to analyze the performance and look at the things we did well and what we can do better.
“Defensively we left ourselves very open but if you look at the statistics of the game, we had our own chances, we had one-v-ones, but most importantly, putting the ball in the net, we was in second place. Best
“I don’t like to blame anybody, I have to take responsibility. We are a team, we have to stick together, we are together, win or lose.
“We’ll recover and we’ll prepare for the next match. We need to respond, that’s clear. But we’re looking forward to it.”
Games against Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and Newcastle United remain in Chelsea’s last 10 fixtures, and European qualification looks set to fade away.
