Chelsea 0-0 Aston Villa: Blues and Villa settle for fourth-round replay

Chelsea and Aston Villa will contest a fourth-round replay after each side cancelled one another out within the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge.

But the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) dominated the objective out after adjudging the Villa midfielder had managed the ball along with his hand.

Chelsea had a number of alternatives to take the lead however have been pissed off by a mix of Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and poor ending.

The pair will meet once more at Villa Park in early February.

Blues to play first FA Cup replay since 2018

Chelsea have turned a nook in latest weeks.

Mauricio Pochettino’s facet are unbeaten of their previous 10 dwelling matches, and reached the Carabao Cup last on Tuesday evening with a thumping 6-2 aggregate win over Championship facet Middlesbrough.

They had a number of possibilities within the first half as Martinez denied Noni Madueke and Cole Palmer from shut vary, the latter latching on to the ball after a poor backpass from Villa’s Clement Lenglet.

The Argentine additionally made two glorious saves to forestall personal objectives, protecting out a Luiz header and Alex Moreno’s poked clearance after a low cross from Palmer.

Palmer appeared full of life for the eight-time winners and ought to have scored halfway by way of the second interval after intercepting a Martinez clearance, however miskicked his shot within the penalty space.

Chelsea had received their previous eight FA Cup matches at Stamford Bridge, however have been pissed off by Villa within the closing phases and didn’t document a shot after the 63rd minute.

Villa end the stronger on the Bridge

In latest seasons the fourth spherical has been unfamiliar territory for Aston Villa who have been enjoying their first aggressive fixture in virtually two weeks.

Villa ended a run of eight consecutive FA Cup defeats with a 1-0 win at Middlesbrough within the final spherical.

And Unai Emery’s facet began brightly in west London with Youri Tielemans having his header after a free-kick routine tipped over the bar by Chelsea keeper Dorde Petrovic.

After the restart Petrovic was referred to as into motion once more to palm away an Ollie Watkins effort from a decent angle, and the Serbian stopper did even higher to tip Matty Cash’s left-footed curling effort across the put up within the 73rd minute.

Villa have been the higher facet within the last moments and went shut when defender Ezri Konsa sliced an effort agonisingly vast.

Attention now turns to the Premier League, with Aston Villa internet hosting Newcastle on Tuesday, and Chelsea at Liverpool on Wednesday (each 20:15 GMT).