Thomas Tuchel Unhappy With The Premier League Despite Win Against Aston Villa

Chelsea secures all three points against Aston Villa on Boxing Day remain in touch with the league leaders Man City in the Premier League, thanks to the brilliance of Romelu Lukaku header and two penalties from Jorginho.

The match which went down at the Villa Park saw defender Reece James score an own goal in the 28th minute to give Villa the lead.

Thomas Tuchel's side's didn't trail for long, as they were awarded a penalty just five minutes later after Callum Hudson-Odoi was brought down by Matty Cash in the penalty area, with Jorginho calmly converting the spot kick despite Emiliano Martinez's best efforts to put him off.

The sides went into the half-time break level at 1-1, but Villa had been the better side in the opening 45, with Chelsea not creating much apart from their penalty.

Villa boss Steven Gerrard had to watch from home after testing positive for Covid-19 but Thomas Tuchel's presence was certainly felt following that bold substitution, removing Trevor Chalobah after a difficult half-time performance, to bring on Romelu Lukaku.

Lukaku made a quick impact on his return from injury, scoring a glancing header from a Hudson-Odoi cross just 11 minutes of his introduction to give the visitors the lead.

The Belgian striker later won a penalty after bullying Matty Cash before being brought down in the area by Ezri Konza for Jorginho to grab his second of the game from the spot

It was a sixth penalty in six games for Jorginho, the Chelsea top scorer last season.

The 3-1 result earned Chelsea all three points, and their first win in three Premier League games following a 1-1 draw at home to Everton, and a goalless draw away to Wolves.

City had cruised to an emphatic 6-3 win over Leicester City earlier in the day at the Etihad stadium.

Lukaku was named the man of the match despite playing only the second half which shows just how important he is to the Chelsea side.

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel speaking to Sky Sports after the game said: 

"It's a big victory. The reaction was very, very good, and the mentality was outstanding. We did not allow any chances and created a lot of chances. Job done, but we are worried. We have another injured player. Here, we played against a team with no international duty. At some stage it’ll catch up with us. People at the green table, somewhere in offices, make these decisions.

"We play two more cup games against teams with games postponed. This cannot be the right way.”

"We are satisfied to win, but it's not enough changes for us. Five subs was invented because of Coronavirus. Europe has a winter break but we play through and put it on the players' shoulders. They make us play all the time even if we have Covid. We have new injuries and it won't stop. 

"It's not fair today, we’re just filling holes where we can fill them. He Lukaku had a very good performance, he was very helpful, but he's not ready for that even if he wants it. 

"We've all been in bed for 10 days with flu. I did not play two days later a match at Villa Park - we don't know what happens from that. We just put the players in but we don't know what the impact is. He was a game changer today. I'm super impressed with the guys but I'm super concerned."

Chelsea had a request to have their 0-0 draw versus Wolves on 19 December rejected by the Premier League.

With 15 top-flight matches already been postponed so far in December, Chelsea will be playing their eighth game in all competitions this month when they host Brighton in the Premier League on Wednesday evening.

The Blues are now level on points with Liverpool, they sit in third place with 41 points after 19 games and six points behind league leaders Man City.

They look to overtake Liverpool in second position, the Reds had their boxing day game with Leeds postponed due to rising number of Covid cases in the Leeds squad, but would return to play away at Leicester City on Tuesday night.