Aston Villa got away with this one. Chelsea were the better side – even at half-time when the hosts were leading 2-0 – with only a late, overturned goal denying Mauricio Pochettino a comeback win.
What went wrong? The short answer is that Villa are exhausted. They surely did not intend to sit quite so deep, having held 29 per cent possession, less than in any other Premier League match this season.
A long campaign riddled with injuries has caught up with them. At Villa Park on Saturday it was a familiar story as Emiliano Martinez and Youri Tielemans withdrew through injury.
Villa’s superb over-performance in the league has prevented their injury crisis from getting more attention. But with central midfielders seemingly on a constant rotation on the treatment table, Unai Emery has worked miracles in keeping his side competitive.
Iraola has orchestrated Bournemouth’s best-ever top flight season
In many ways this was just another routine home win for AFC Bournemouth: since their first of the season on 28 October, only Man City (0) and Liverpool (1) have lost fewer home Premier League matches than Andoni Iraola’s side (2).
There are still records to be broken. They are only one point behind West Ham in eighth spot, which would be Bournemouth’s highest-ever league finish, and they are five points off the final European spot.