Mauricio Pochettino says Chelsea ‘need to grow up like a team’ after 1-0 defeat by Aston Villa

LONDON – Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino said his side “need to grow up like a team” after a strike by Ollie Watkins earned Aston Villa all three points at goal-starved, 10-man Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday.

Watkins tore through the home defence on the counter in the 73rd minute, then angled his shot deftly through Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez’s legs before it bounced in off the far post for his first EPL goal of the season.

“It is always nice to score and help the team to win. It had been a few games I hadn’t scored,” said Watkins. “I knew the goals would come but I am delighted it has come in a game that helps the team and helps us get the three points.”

Chelsea were in charge for most of the match, with Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson finding space behind the defenders.

But, as so often in recent months, they failed to find the telling goal with Villa’s Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez stopping a string of chances.

Pochettino’s expensively assembled team have not scored in their last three matches and Villa fans delighted in singing that he would be sacked in the morning.

Villa, pushed back for most of the first half, found more ambition after Malo Gusto was sent off in the 58th minute following a video assistant referee check for a late tackle on Lucas Digne.

The French defender had slid in on compatriot Digne on the wing and was first shown a yellow card before referee Jarred Gillett was called over to check the monitor, and changed his decision.

Pochettino called it the turning point of the match, saying: “First half, I think we deserved more. Second half, we started on top of them but after red card the game changes.”

While he refused to blame Gusto for his dismissal, when asked about striker Jackson’s fifth caution in six EPL matches, Pochettino said: “We were talking, we need to grow up like a team. Nico is young and is feeling the Premier League.

“Football is about winning but players when they are young need to learn. That is why we feel disappointed. We have too many situations like this...

“We need to try to build the confidence and give them all of the support they need... The performance is good, not excellent, but we are missing goals.”

Nicolo Zaniolo and Digne caused Chelsea’s depleted defence problems and Villa defended their lead energetically, despite the match coming only three days after a 3-2 defeat by Legia Warsaw in the Europa Conference League.

“We played against a top team in Poland the other day and then it was a quick turnaround. We showed our resilience, kept playing our game,” Watkins said.

Villa manager Unai Emery added: “To win here is not easy and if the match was going different, we could have lost as well. But I am happy because we were very competitive and good defensively.”

Villa moved up a place to sixth in the table with the win, while Chelsea, who are having their worst start to a season for more than 40 years, stayed 14th. REUTERS