Mourinho lands some luck after Aston Villa provide the perfect tonic for labouring Chelsea

Thank you: Lackluster Villa help ease the pressure on Mourinho
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Simon Johnson17 October 2015

When things are getting tough, everyone could do with a helping hand once in a while to lift spirits and improve morale.

It seems Chelsea have been in the doldrums ever since reporting back for pre-season training in July and manager Jose Mourinho has struggled to find a way to get them out of it.

He's tried defending his players, he's tried criticising players and most controversially, dropping his players.

Eden Hazard, Nemanja Matic, Oscar and Gary Cahill were the next victims of this tactic at Stamford Bridge today as they were all named on the bench.

But of all the cures Chelsea needed for their malaise, the best on offer was the visit of beleaguered Aston Villa to west London.

Villa have managed to make a poorer start to the campaign than the Blues, which takes some doing given the defending champions had just eight points from as many matches before kick-off.

Tim Sherwood's men had just four though and the manager sitting in the away dug-out is under just as much pressure to save his job as Mourinho.

For long periods in the first half, it looked like Chelsea were going to be in for another uncomfortable afternoon in front of their own fans having already been beaten by Crystal Palace and Southampton here.

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The visitors sensed the tension among those in blue and were actually looking the better side. For example, Rudy Gestede should have put them in front just after the half hour mark.

Christmas is still a couple of months away but Chelsea were then given the three points gift-wrapped by the Villa backline.

Firstly keeper Brad Guzan played a woeful ball from the back, which rolled under Joleon Lescott's foot. Willian was able to pounce on to the loose ball 30 yards and simply squared the ball for Diego Costa to find the net with ease.

The second goal after the break wasn't much better. Again the ball was given away and it led to Costa's shot being deflected into his own net by Alan Hutton.

It led to cries of 'we're going to win the League' from the home stands, but it was clear their collective tongues were firmly in cheek.

MATCH REPORT: CHELSEA 2 ASTON VILLA 0
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For Chelsea once again laboured for long periods and were far from convincing. However, given all the talk of dressing room unrest and Mourinho's position being on the line, the result was all that mattered.

The phrase 'if you can't be good, be lucky' springs to mind, yet at least owner Roman Abramovich was smiling at the final whistle and some of the strain has been removed from Mourinho's shoulders for now.

For Sherwood however, it could be a different story.

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