Prints Brace In Aston Villa Vs Chelsea, Jorginho Becomes First Premier League Player To Score 10 Penalties In 1 Calendar Year

JAKARTA - The two penalty kicks that Jorginho converted against Aston Villa on Sunday not only brought Chelsea back to winning ways, but also set a new record. What's that?

The Blues successfully beat Aston Villa 3-1 in the English League Boxing Day match at Villa Park Stadium, Birmingham. All four goals in that match went to Chelsea players, as Reece James scored an own goal that had given Villa the lead.

Jorginho's penalty put Chelsea level before Romelu Lukaku scored and another penalty from UEFA's player of the year gave the Blues a 3-1 win.

Influential. pic.twitter.com/YLL5oLrR6N

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 27, 2021

With his two goals against Villa, Jorginho became the first player in Premier League history to score 10 penalties in a calendar year.

Launching Antara, Tuesday, the result also brought Chelsea back to winning ways after drawing in the last two matches, while maintaining a positive trend of never having gone three games without a win since being handled by Thomas Tuchel.

Despite winning, Chelsea did not move from the third position in the standings because they were left on goal difference from Liverpool even though they both have 41 points.

Meanwhile, Villa, who lost their third in seven games since being coached by Steven Gerrard, have dropped back down to 10th after having briefly moved up due to Leicester City's early defeat.

Lovely jubbly! pic.twitter.com/DBcMILYKLi

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 27, 2021

Both have 22 points and a goal difference of three deficits, Villa lost in goal productivity compared to Leicester.

Both teams played evenly from the start but Villa took the lead in the 28th minute when Matt Targett's dangerous cross that James tried to find turned the ball into his own net.

However, the lead did not last long as Jorginho equalized from the penalty spot six minutes later after Matthew Cash was charged with bringing down Callum Hudson-Odoi in the box.

So assured! #AvlChe pic.twitter.com/u8CeFpnN3c

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 26, 2021

Villa were eager to restore the lead, but Chelsea's back line worked hard to secure the net. Goalkeeper Edouard Mendy cut off Morgan Sanson's pull-back before it reached Ollie Watkins, while Antonio Ruediger and Trevoh Chalobah cleared away Danny Ings and Cash, respectively.

The score lasted until half-time and Chelsea entered the second half with more attacking initiative although unfortunately Hudson-Odoi's chances were cleared by Tyrone Mings and goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez anticipated Cash's error that almost led to an own goal.

Chelsea took the lead over Villa in the 56th minute when Hudson-Odoi found the right cross from the left and Lukaku's sharp header left Martinez dead.

Villa struggled to build a meaningful attack in the second half and Hudson-Odoi could have almost extended Chelsea's lead in the 88th minute had Martinez not made a great save.

Chelsea's win over the hosts made it 3-1 when Jorginho returned to his duties as the executioner of a penalty kick in the third minute of injury time when Ezri Konsa was forced to bring down Lukaku inside the area.

The goal also extended Villa's bad trend in six meetings against Chelsea in the Boxing Day series, which did not even result in a victory.

Villa will have more time to rest as their next game at home to Leeds United on Tuesday is confirmed to be postponed as the home squad is still hit by the COVID-19 crisis.

Meanwhile, Chelsea are scheduled to host Brighton & Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday as their performance closes 2021.