Chelsea and Aston Villa will battle it out in a replay for a spot in round five of the FA Cup following Friday night’s 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues and the Villans will have to do battle again after they could not be separated after 90 minutes in west London.
Douglas Luiz thought he had given Villa a first-half lead but his strike was ruled out for handball by VAR and the match would go on to finish goalless.
Here are 90min’s key takeaways from Friday’s draw.
Sure, Chelsea scored six goals on Tuesday against Middlesbrough, but it’s quite a bit easier to beat up on a team mid-table in the Championship when you’ve spent as carefree as they have.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men have not found the net in 180 minutes of play at home to Villa this season, with Friday’s 0-0 draw preceded by a 1-0 loss in the Premier League back in September.
Chelsea didn’t exactly create a gluttony of clear-cut chances, but there were enough half-decent openings for an experienced and ruthless forward to take advantage.
The story of Chelsea’s season might have been totally different to this point if Christopher Nkunku had remained fit, but the Blues can’t rely on him alone just to bring some semblance of consistent attacking potency.
Fortunately, it sounds like Victor Osimhen will be leaving Napoli. Chelsea have egregiously blown £1bn in the BlueCo era thus far, they may as well continue their spending by bringing in a top-class player who will instantly improve the team in the present as well as the future.
Goalkeeper is a core position that can’t be cheated in football – if you’re a bit rubbish, you’re going to get found out rather quickly.
Since stepping in for the injured Robert Sanchez in December, Djordje Petrovic hasn’t put a foot wrong. His display in Friday’s draw was another fine one to add to a growing collection which suggests he is the best goalie on Chelsea’s books.
The signing of Sanchez was always a strange one considering he had been relegated to third-choice at Brighton, while the understated arrival of Petrovic from the New England Revolution looks like a rare masterstroke from the Chelsea transfer committee.
You only need to look across London at Tottenham where Guglielmo Vicario is flying to realise it’s not always the big-name or big-money goalkeepers who succeed. Petrovic is starting to have a similar impact at Stamford Bridge.
Aston Villa’s rise to top-four contenders this season has, rightfully, seen a lot of their key players lauded for their impact.
But everyone has been so fixated on the likes of Douglas Luiz and John McGinn that the dominant Boubacar Kamara has hardly been mentioned.
The French midfielder was excellent at Stamford Bridge for the second time this season. Villa fans should perhaps be a little thankful he’s not being linked with a move away because he’s the exact sort of combative yet creative player plenty of their rivals should be looking at.
Right, we’re not saying ‘scrap FA Cup replays’ like some critics, but there should at least be an option for teams to go straight to extra-time instead, agreed?
Replays are great for lower league sides who need the money of a cup run to survive or just as a nice little bonus for their hard work, but another 90 minutes (at least) of an all-Premier League affair does no one any good, really.
The FA should introduce a rule decreeing clubs can agree to go straight to extra-time and penalties in their initial meeting should they see fit. The choice should be there, it’s 2024 for crying out loud.
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