Bertrand Traore: Aston Villa star sets Chelsea record

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The Burkina Faso international joined the ranks of former Blues players who scored against the Stamford Bridge giants in the English top flight

Bertrand Traore has set a Chelsea record having found the net in Aston Villa’s 2-1 victory over the Stamford Bridge giants on Sunday evening.

The Burkina Faso international became the 25th different player to score a Premier League goal against the Blues having previously represented them in the tournament.

25 - Bertrand Traore is the 25th different player to score against Chelsea in the Premier League having played for the Blues in the competition - no team has had more different former players score against them (Spurs also 25). Villain.

In the last game of the 2020-21 campaign staged at Villa Park, Traore gave Dean Smith’s men a first-half lead thanks to his 43rd-minute effort.

The former Chelsea man was unmarked as he directed Matt Targett's low corner kick into the box. Although he scuffed his first-time shot into the ground, it looped over the dive of Edouard Mendy and sailed in off the crossbar. That is his seventh goal in 36 Premier League games since joining the Birmingham-based outfit from Olympique Lyon on September 19, 2020, for an undisclosed fee.

With that, no team has had more former players score against the Blues and Tottenham Hotspur in the history of the English top flight.

Also, the 25-year-old had a hand in the hosts’ second goal of the evening having been tripped by Jorginho in the box as referee Stuart Attwell pointed to the penalty spot.

Anwar El-Ghazi stepped up and calmly sent Kepa Arrizabalaga the wrong way to give the Lions a two-goal lead.

In the 70th minute, Ben Chilwell reduced the deficit for Thomas Tuchel’s men courtesy of an assist from Christian Pulisic.

After an impressive shift, Traore was substituted for England youth international of Nigerian descent Carney Chukwuemeka in the 73rd minute.

“It is normally hard to create chances and score against Aston Villa, but we created a lot of chances, a lot of half-chances, many, many deliveries,” Tuchel told Chelsea website after the game.

“It was the story of the season. We needed many clean sheets to overcome this lack of composure and precision.

“We conceded two goals from set-pieces out of nothing and made it hard to come back, but we even then we had enough chances to come back.”

Even at the defeat, Chelsea secured Champions League football next season while Villa finished 11th, to sign off an impressive season in style.

2021-05-23 23:00:03

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