LONDON — Chelsea and Aston Villa will need a replay to decide who gets a spot in the fifth round of the FA Cup after playing out an entertaining 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge on Friday.
Chelsea had the better chances overall in a captivating, nervy fourth round matchup on a chilly evening but as neither side could break the deadlock, the two will now have to play a replay at Villa Park to decide who advances to the competition’s last 16.
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Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke had Chelsea’s best opportunities of the match to find a breakthrough while Villa had a Douglas Luiz goal disallowed in the first half for a handball.
Asked about Chelsea’s missed chances, Pochettino responded: “Yeah both sides, eh? They have amazing players in attack, different players and they didn’t score but kept a clean sheet.
“These games are even and of course when you face a team like Aston Villa it’s difficult. We didn’t score, but we created chances but I trust and believe in my players and playing this way, we will score. We scored six on Tuesday but today… the keeper is an amazing keeper and he was really really good. Sometimes you need some luck.”
Chelsea made three changes from the side that eased past Middlesbrough 6-1 in midweek with Benoit Badiashile, Conor Gallagher and Madueke all starting. Pochettino was also forced into a late change after Levi Colwill pulled up before the match with a hamstring problem so Alfie Gilchrist was a late addition at right back.
“We don’t believe it’s so bad,” Pochettino said of Colwill’s injury. “It’s a small issue that he didn’t feel comfortable because … look we knew before we were going to start with him, but he felt something, it’s not a big deal. I hope he can train tomorrow.”
Villa made two changes from their 0-0 draw with Everton a fortnight ago with Matty Cash and Youri Tielemans starting.
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The visitors started the brighter of the two teams and thought they’d opened the scoring after 11 minutes with Luiz scoring from close range after a Moussa Diaby shot was deflected into his path. But VAR judged Luiz to have handled the ball off the ricochet and the goal was chalked off.
Yet after a shaky start it was Chelsea who were on top for the rest of the half. Time and time again Raheem Sterling and Madueke managed to get the better of the Villa fullbacks but they lacked that clinical presence in the middle of the box. When Chelsea did manage to fashion chances, Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez saved well at close range from Madueke, twice, and Palmer to keep the game scoreless.
The second half started a little nervier with chances at a premium in the opening exchanges. Palmer had the best chance of the second 45 in the 68th minute as Martínez’s slack clearance found the Chelsea forward inside the box, but Palmer misfired to let Villa off.
As the game became more stretched, Villa’s Matty Cash nearly opened the scoring with a wonderfully judged, curled effort only for Chelsea keeper Djordje Petrovic to turn it round the post.
Villa had one more nervy moment at the back as a poor Boubacar Kamara back pass went unpunished in the 83rd minute with Martínez just getting to the ball ahead of Gallagher. But despite both teams attempting to find the breakthrough, the match finished in stalemate.
“Very happy, very proud of our work,” Villa manager Unai Emery said. “We had the week’s break so it was about being competitive like we were before. The first half we were struggling but we were competitive. In the second half we were getting better and we finished strong.
“We will play the replay at home and be motivated with our supporters and we will enjoy that. We can be contenders for this competition but 90 minutes at Villa Park will be a great match but difficult as well.”