A landmark day for Thomas Tuchel’s title-chasing Chelsea as they become only the second club after Manchester United to reach 600 Premier League wins (W6009, D274, L244). Confident win against Aston Villa brought the Blues to a great record – final score at Stamford Bridge 3-0.The evidence for a strong Chelsea title charge this season keeps adding up and they’ve got momentum from the start. In their match against the Birmingham Villains, home team opened the game hard from the get-go. As early as the 10th minute, Callum Hudson-Odoi whipped in a dangerous corner direct on goal which cannoned right off the bar before being scrambled away by a defender.And just five minutes later, the Blues were up front. And who else but the returnee Romelu Lukaku – Mateo Kovacic slipped the ball through to the Belgian, and he darted into the box to unleash a magnificent shot into the bottom left corner to make it 1:0.Lukaku has scored his first club goal at Stamford Bridge in what is his 15th appearance at the ground and from his 22nd attempted shot.After the conceded goal, Aston Villa woke up. In the 24th minute Ollie Watkins came close to scoring but should have done much better. His poor attempt from close range ended up in the gloves of Edouard Mendy.Villa players kept on pushing, they wanted that equalizer hard. In the 34th minute, Ezri Konsa failed to turn the rebound in from a promising position. Mendy pulled off a superb save and denied Ezri Konsa’s effort.What aggravated Tuchel the most was the lack of intensity after the scored goal. His team had their first chance after the goal in the 40th minute – Hakim Ziyech had a good opportunity from long range. His shot was directed towards the middle of the goal, but Jed Steer was alert and made a comfortable save.Villa’s following attempt was more dangerous but still not enough. The shot by Jacob Ramsey from the edge of the box low towards the middle of the goal lacked power and was saved by Mendy.Second half started dreamy for the hosts. After all the pressure Villa made in the first half, Chelsea’s lead was doubled in the 49th minute. It was a catastrophic error from the Villa Captain Tyrone Mings which has gifted a chance to Kovacic, who rolled the ball into the back of the net from close range.Kovacic has both scored and assisted a goal in the same game for the first time in the Premier League, and third in his top-five European league career, also doing so for Inter v Sassuolo (2014) and Real Madrid v Real Sociedad (2017).And it was as if the Croat’s goal cut the legs underneath Villa. They did not attack as strongly as they did in the first half when they were behind.Villa tried via Burkinabe Bertrand Traore in the 73rd minute but his shot was blocked. Then Konsa shot a header after a corner but the ball went straight into Mendy’s arms.Chelsea followed with an opportunity – Marcos Alonso sent a low shot just wide of the right post.In the 81st minute, Watkins found himself in a promising position as he ran towards the goal and unleashed a shot from just outside the penalty area. Unfortunately for the guests, it went towards the middle of the goal where Mendy was ready to catch the ball.On the other end, Big Rom had no intent to stop. Great play by Cesar Azpilicueta released Lukaku in space on the edge of the box. He spotted the keeper off his line and puts a rocket into the top left corner.Chelsea are making steady progress towards a successful campaign. Nine of Chelsea’s 14 Premier League victories have been accompanied by a clean sheet – a great stat to feed off of. They need all the motivation they can get as they await clashes against Tottenham and Manchester City.PREMIER LEAGUE – ROUND 4SaturdayCrystal Palace – Tottenham 3-0 (0-0)/Zaha 75 pen, Edouard 84, 90+3/Leicester – Man City 0-1 (0-0)/Silva 62’/Southampton – West Ham 0-0Man Utd – Newcastle 4-1 (1-0)/Ronaldo 45+2′, 62′, Fernandes 80′, Lingard 90+2′ – Manquillo 56’/Watford – Wolverhampton 0-2 (0-0)/Sierralta 74′ og, Hee Chan 83’/Arsenal – Norwich 1-0 (0-0)/Aubameyang 69’/Brentford – Brighton 0-1 (0-0)/Trossard 90’/Chelsea – Aston Villa 3-0 (1-0)/Lukaku 15′, 90+3′, Kovacic 49’/Sunday18.30: (4.70) Leeds (3.70) Liverpool (1.75)Monday22.00: (1.80) Everton (3.50) Burnley (4.70)***odds are subject to change
