Credit: Imago

Harri Burton

Wed 4 March 2026 21:50, UK

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Reece James was saved from total embarrassment in the middle of the park as Chelsea beat Aston Villa away from home.

The 26-year-old has been a key figure during Liam Rosenior’s short tenure so far, starting at full-back or in midfield, wearing the captain’s armband either way. It was no different in the 4-1 win.

Liam Rosenior would have been furious as the Villans opened the scoring after just two minutes on Wednesday, 4 March, only for the Blues to take a two-goal lead into the half-time break.

Keith Hackett told Football Insider that James was fortunate not to be punished for a blatant dive at Villa Park, and he was wrapped up in more than just the one incident in the 90 minutes.

VAR to the rescue as Reece James slips up

In the 41st minute, Ollie Watkins had helped Villa to retake the lead, taking advantage of a silly mistake from James, but VAR intervened to rule the goal out for a marginal offside against the Villa striker.

Reporting for BBC Sport (4 March), Nizaar Kinsella wrote: “That was an incredibly poor moment in possession from Reece James to cause a four-on-two counterattack.

“But VAR saves them in a marginal offside call to rule out Ollie Watkins’s goal. Chelsea have shown a lot of quality at Villa Park, but that tendency to self-destruct is making this a closer contest than it otherwise should be.“

It appeared to be a defining moment in the game. In the sixth minute of added time at the end of the first half, Joao Pedro netted his second goal of the night before the Blues ran out 4-1 winners.

Chelsea star composes himself after early struggles at Villa Park

After the early slip-up and diving inside the penalty area, the game could have gone either way for the travelling side, but a Pedro hat-trick and Cole Palmer strike completely changed the result.

Despite his early struggles, James had 83 touches, completed 92 per cent of his passes, completed 100 per cent of his dribbles, won 100 per cent of his ground duels and 100 per cent of his aerial duels [FotMob].

While he has been played in a midfield role before, he clearly needed more time to adjust at Villa Park, but as most captains do, he led his side to victory in style.

On another day, he may have even won his side a penalty in the opening few minutes, but Rosenior will want a faster start to games in the future from his England international.