Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku said scoring at Stamford Bridge is something he has dreamed about since he was a child, after netting twice in Chelsea’s win over Aston Villa.
The Belgian scored his first ever goals at the stadium either side of a Mateo Kovacic strike as Thomas Tuchel’s side maintained their unbeaten start to the season.
“It’s my dream since I was 11. I’ve worked hard for this moment,” said Lukaku.
He added: “I was up and down at the start [of my career] but I’ve found a certain consistency in the last three years. With experience and hard work, I just keep on working.
“It’s a good start but we have to keep working. We know this year’s going to be very competitive. A lot of teams are going to be fighting for the title.”
Lukaku kissed the club badge as he celebrated his opener in front of Blues fans after beating Villa goalkeeper Jed Steer on his 15th appearance at Stamford Bridge overall.
The Belgian’s clinical finish through Steer’s legs came from a precise pass from Kovacic inside his own half.
Lukaku sealed the win for Chelsea in injury time with a powerful finish down from the edge of the box.
The victory takes Tuchel’s side up to second – level on points and goal difference with leaders Manchester United – and sees the club reach a significant milestone as they become only the second team in Premier League history to reach 600 wins in the competition (Man Utd have 690).
Villa made to pay for missed chances
Villa’s preparations for their trip to Stamford Bridge were disrupted with the absence of first-choice goalkeeper Emi Martinez and winger Emi Buendia, who missed out because of quarantine rules after the international break.
Stand-in goalkeeper Steer was in for a busy afternoon with Chelsea forcing three corners inside the opening 10 minutes, and they finally opened the scoring on the quarter-hour.
The Blues broke down the Villa defence after a superb pass from Kovacic inside his own half found Lukaku on the edge of the box.
The Belgian slalomed past Villa defender Axel Tuanzebe before sweeping past Steer for his second Premier League goal of the season.
Dean Smith’s side created plenty of chances after going 1-0 down and managed four shots on target, but could not find a way past Blues goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
Villa enjoyed a bright spell after conceding and nearly responded when Ollie Watkins’ low drive forced Mendy into an impressive reaction save, diving low to his right to keep out the forward on his first start of the season.
Mendy was the busier of the two goalkeepers in the first half and had a let off when Watkins rounded him only to take one too many touches and allow Thiago Silva to get back and block his goal-bound effort.
Mendy redeemed himself with two saves in quick succession to deny Villa defenders Mings and Ezri Konsa, but any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Kovacic doubled Chelsea’s lead four minutes after the restart.
And they were punished for their wasted chances when Kovacic doubled Chelsea’s lead early in the second half with a first-time finish into the bottom corner from Tyrone Mings’ weak back pass.
After making the first goal, the Croatia midfielder pounced on a weak Mings pass to put the ball beyond Steer and into the far corner for only his second ever Premier League goal.
Villa managed to keep Lukaku relatively quiet, with the 28-year-old managing just 25 touches of the ball in 93 minutes – less than any player who started the game.
While he was restricted to just two chances, Lukaku scored from them both, firing into the roof of the net from Cesar Azpilicueta’s pass to make it eight goals in his last six Premier League outings against Villa.
Player of the match
LukakuRomelu Lukaku
Chelsea
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Squad number9Player nameLukaku
Average rating8.61
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Squad number8Player nameKovacic
Average rating8.32
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Squad number16Player nameMendy
Average rating8.23
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Squad number29Player nameHavertz
Average rating8.14
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Squad number6Player nameThiago Silva
Average rating7.59
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Squad number2Player nameRüdiger
Average rating7.47
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Squad number5Player nameJorginho
Average rating7.27
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Squad number28Player nameAzpilicueta
Average rating7.11
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Squad number14Player nameChalobah
Average rating7.09
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Squad number3Player nameAlonso
Average rating6.98
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Squad number22Player nameZiyech
Average rating6.69
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Squad number20Player nameHudson-Odoi
Average rating6.58
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Squad number11Player nameWerner
Average rating6.27
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Squad number17Player nameSaúl
Average rating5.30
Aston Villa
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Squad number11Player nameWatkins
Average rating5.87
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Squad number7Player nameMcGinn
Average rating5.83
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Squad number31Player nameBailey
Average rating5.44
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Squad number4Player nameKonsa
Average rating5.44
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Squad number41Player nameRamsey
Average rating5.34
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Squad number15Player nameTraoré
Average rating5.34
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Squad number2Player nameCash
Average rating5.26
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Squad number6Player nameDouglas Luiz
Average rating5.10
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Squad number3Player nameTargett
Average rating4.97
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Squad number16Player nameTuanzebe
Average rating4.96
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Squad number20Player nameIngs
Average rating4.96
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Squad number19Player nameNakamba
Average rating4.83
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Squad number12Player nameSteer
Average rating4.72
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Squad number5Player nameMings
Average rating4.52
Line-ups
Chelsea
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 16Mendy
- 14Chalobah
- 6Thiago Silva
- 2Rüdiger
- 20Hudson-OdoiSubstituted forWernerat 82′minutes
- 8Kovacic
- 17SaúlSubstituted forJorginhoat 45′minutes
- 3AlonsoBooked at 61mins
- 22Ziyech
- 29HavertzSubstituted forAzpilicuetaat 64′minutes
- 9Lukaku
Substitutes
- 1Arrizabalaga
- 4Christensen
- 5Jorginho
- 11Werner
- 12Loftus-Cheek
- 18Barkley
- 19Mount
- 21Chilwell
- 28Azpilicueta
Aston Villa
Formation 5-3-2
- 12Steer
- 2Cash
- 4Konsa
- 16Tuanzebe
- 5MingsBooked at 28mins
- 3TargettBooked at 90mins
- 41RamseyBooked at 8minsSubstituted forBaileyat 56′minutes
- 6Douglas LuizSubstituted forNakambaat 80′minutes
- 7McGinnBooked at 90mins
- 20IngsSubstituted forTraoréat 69′minutes
- 11Watkins
Substitutes
- 8Sanson
- 15Traoré
- 18Young
- 19Nakamba
- 21El Ghazi
- 30Hause
- 31Bailey
- 35Archer
- 38Sinisalo
- Referee:
- Stuart Attwell
Match Stats
Live Text
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Match ends, Chelsea 3, Aston Villa 0.
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Second Half ends, Chelsea 3, Aston Villa 0.
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Goal! Chelsea 3, Aston Villa 0. Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the top left corner. Assisted by César Azpilicueta.
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John McGinn (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Matt Targett (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card.
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Jorginho (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by John McGinn (Aston Villa).
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Foul by Timo Werner (Chelsea).
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Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Attempt missed. John McGinn (Aston Villa) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the left following a corner.
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Corner, Aston Villa. Conceded by Thiago Silva.
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Attempt blocked. Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) header from the left side of the six yard box is blocked.
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Corner, Aston Villa. Conceded by Jorginho.
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Attempt blocked. Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
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Substitution, Chelsea. Timo Werner replaces Callum Hudson-Odoi.
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Attempt missed. Hakim Ziyech (Chelsea) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Jorginho.
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Attempt saved. Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
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Substitution, Aston Villa. Marvelous Nakamba replaces Douglas Luiz.
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Offside, Chelsea. Trevoh Chalobah tries a through ball, but Callum Hudson-Odoi is caught offside.
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Corner, Aston Villa. Conceded by Trevoh Chalobah.
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