Chelsea thump Aston Villa 3-0 on Lukaku double

Sports Desk, Sep 11 (EFE).- Summer signing Romelu Lukaku had a pair of goals Saturday to power Chelsea 3-0 over Aston Villa and bring the Blues level on points with Premier League leaders Manchester United.

Though the Belgian international was a Chelsea player for a few years a decade ago and later played against the Blues multiple times in London as a member of Everton and Man United, he came into Saturday’s match having never scored at Stamford Bridge.

Lukaku remedied that deficiency in the 15th minute, beating Villa goalkeeper Jed Steer to make it 1-0 for the hosts to the delight of the Blues faithful as they were getting their first glimpse of the striker since his return to the club.

Villa responded vigorously and keeper Edouard Mendy had to make stops against Ollie Watkins, Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa to preserve the slim lead until the break.

Four minutes into the second half, Mateo Kovacic exploited a poor back pass by Mings to double the advantage for the hosts.

The contest was in stoppage time when Cesar Azpilicueta set up Lukaku to complete his double with a tremendous strike.

Chelsea and Man United are each on 10 points after four matches, but the Red Devils have scored more goals than the Blues. Villa are 12th in the table with 4 points. EFE msg/dr