Joao Pedro treble helps Chelsea close gap on fourth-placed Villa to three points

Joao Pedro scored a hat-trick as Chelsea boosted their Champions League qualification hopes with a handsome 4-1 win at Aston Villa.

Pedro’s first Premier League treble saw Liam Rosenior’s side climb into the top five and move just three points behind a faltering Villa side in fourth.

Cole Palmer also scored on a memorable night for the Blues, who showed spirit to come from behind after Douglas Luiz’s opener.

It was by far the best performance of Rosenior’s two months in charge and they will approach the remainder of the season with confidence.

When Luiz struck inside three minutes, Villa had high hopes of taking a huge step towards securing their own Champions League ambitions but their night turned sour.

They have now won just one of their last six games and are in real danger of slipping out of contention for a place in next season’s most prestigious club competition.

And Unai Emery’s men are looking increasingly like they will need to win the Europa League as their route into it.

Chelsea boss Rosenior decided to drop goalkeeper Robert Sanchez after a difficult time against Arsenal on Sunday and replaced him with Filip Jorgensen.

And the Dane was picking the ball out of the net after just 150 seconds as Villa made a flying start.

Leon Bailey did well down the right and his cutback was dummied by Ollie Watkins, allowing Luiz to flick home his first goal of his second spell at Villa Park.

Chelsea responded well and Villa needed Emiliano Martinez’s flying save to keep out Pedro’s header before Palmer then forced the Argentinian into another save with a shot from distance.

But Villa should have doubled their lead in the 23rd minute. Martinez kicked the ball long, Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana fell over looking for a free-kick and Watkins raced in on goal but weakly shot straight at Jorgensen under pressure from Trevoh Chalobah.

Watkins had another good chance soon after Emiliano Buendia played him in but Jorgensen beat the shot away with his arm.

The busy goalkeeper then got down well to keep out Morgan Rogers’ 34th-minute shot and that proved vital as 44 seconds later the game changed course.

Enzo Fernandez played in Malo Gusto, who beat the offside trap and laid the ball on a plate for Pedro to stab home from close range and level.

Villa thought they were back ahead five minutes later as Watkins finally beat Jorgensen, but he carelessly went a fraction early on his run and was ruled offside by VAR.

But it was Chelsea who went in at half-time in front as Pedro struck again in the sixth minute of time added on. The former Brighton striker was slipped in by Fernandez and his smart dinked finish found the bottom corner.

Things got even better for the visitors 10 minutes after the restart as Palmer made it 3-1. Martinez recklessly palmed Reece James’ cross straight to the England international, who powered home a low finish through a crowd of bodies.

Villa were getting picked apart and Pedro claimed the match ball in the 64th minute with his hat-trick goal. Alejandro Garnacho raced down the left and teed up his team-mate, who could not miss from close range.

Garnacho could have made it five from another counter-attack, but he shot straight at Martinez.