Player ratings: Chelsea produced performance of the season against Aston Villa

Somehow, from somewhere, a fighting performance in front of a phenomenal Chelsea away end appeared.

We’ve not played like that in months, and my word was it refreshing to see.

Djordje Petrovic – 7

A solid night in which he was unfortunate not to have a clean sheet to show for it. He appears to be becoming a lot more confident on the ball too, which is of course a positive.

Malo Gusto – 7

Best game in a Chelsea shirt so far for me, incredibly good on the ball, with a great assist for our second goal – and he’ll only continue to get better.

Axel Disasi – 6

Nothing out of the ordinary tonight which is about what you’d want from him. He made a superb block too late in the game from a McGinn chance, just as Villa were building some pressure.

Benoit Badiashile – 7

NINE clearances, in an all round really good performance, one back much more to the level that we saw of him at times last season.

Ben Chilwell – 6

Nothing overly special but an improvement on Sunday nonetheless.

Moises Caicedo – 7

Tonight he looked like a player in a pivot. Comfortable dropping between centre backs, linking up much better with Enzo, it was much much improved!

Enzo Fernandez – 8

Man of the match for me and scored one of the best Chelsea goals I’ve seen in years. Dictated the game much more than he has been able to at points this season too. Lucky to have him.

Conor Gallagher – 7

Really good tonight for me, won five from six ground duels and took his goal really well. Off the ball was really important for stopping Villa get into a rhythm.

Cole Palmer – 6

Decent, nothing that stood out, but that’s fine for me, he was part of a superb team performance.

Nicolas Jackson – 7

He has been missed! A slightly different role to previous, out wide on the left at points. A goal on return that came at a crucial point in the game too.

Noni Madueke – 7

Pretty good, linked up nicely with Gusto and got an assist of his own – he has shown a lot at many points this season and tonight was a good night.

Mauricio Pochettino – 7

It felt like we saw minor tweaks, and I was pleased to see it. I won’t go overboard in praise, but tonight was a good step, one he needed.

Raheem Sterling – N/A

Not much to say.

Thiago Silva – N/A

Alfie Gilchrist – N/A

Christopher Nkunku – N/A

Twitter – @Chelsh31