Cole Palmer stunner helps Chelsea cruise past struggling Villa as Fulham battle back to draw at Spurs

Enzo Maresca's Blues now unbeaten in six while Tottenham's inconsistent form continues

Chelsea's Cole Palmer celebrates with teammate Noni Madueke after scoring his side's third goal in their 3-0 Premier League win against Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on December 1, 2024. AP

Cole Palmer of Chelsea scores his team's third goal. Getty Images

Enzo Fernandez of Chelsea scores his team's second goal. Getty Images

Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez celebrates scoring their second goal. Reuters

Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates. Reuters

Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson scores their opening goal against Aston Villa. Action Images

Aston Villa's replacement goalkeeper Robin Olsen, centre, makes a save as Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson, left, tries to score. AP

Chelsea's Romeo Lavia, centre, battles for the ball with Aston Villa's Pau Torres, right, and Boubacar Kamara. AP

Cole Palmer of Chelsea has a free-kick inside the penalty box saved by Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa. Getty Images

Chelsea brushed aside Aston Villa to extend their unbeaten run to six games in all competitions in their Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Enzo Maresca's side triumphed 3-0 thanks to goals from Nicolas Jackson, Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer.

Senegalese forward Jackson opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a neat finish from Marc Cucurella's cross.

In the 36th minute, the home side capitalised on some poor defending when Fernandez was teed up by Palmer before volleying home with his right foot.

Palmer then capped things off with a superb curling left-foot finish into the top corner of substitute goalkeeper Robin Olsen's net in the 83rd minute.

While Chelsea have hit a rich vein of form, these are worrying times for Unai Emery's Aston Villa, who lost goalkeeper Emi Martinez to injury at half-time. The Midlanders have now gone eight games without a win, Emery's worst spell since joining the club in 2022.

After the game, Emery told BBC Match of the Day: “Today Chelsea were better than us. They played like they are now feeling confident with the players they have. We had our moments but we didn't score. We are a little bit under our results but we will keep going against Brentford [on Wednesday].”

Chelsea goalscorer Palmer told Sky Sports: “Aston Villa are a good team so to win and go higher up the table is good.

“If I go out and enjoy my football, the goals and assists will come. It's all down to the manager, the desire that he puts into the sessions and what the players give to him.

“If we keep winning, I'm sure we'll be near the top four. We're just trying to keep going and win plenty of games.”

Across London, inconsistent Tottenham Hotspur were held to a 1-1 draw with Fulham, who battled back from a goal down to grab a point.

Ange Postecolglou's Spurs are missing several key players due to injury or suspension but took the lead against the run of play in the 54th minute.

Wales forward Brennan Johnson hammered home his sixth goal of the season from a Timo Werner cross.

But Fulham grabbed a deserved equaliser 13 minutes later. Captain Tom Cairney, who had just been introduced from the bench, was found by Alex Iwobi before lashing home with his left foot from 18 yards out.

Cairney was shown a red card seven minutes from time for a poor challenge on Dejan Kulusevski.

Tottenham manager Postecoglou said after the match: "It was a tough game, tight game, not a lot of openings for either side. We started well, should have been 1-0 up, then they had their spell and Fraser [Forster] made good saves.

"We just could not push on. We tried to get momentum late in game when they were down to 10, but just couldn't get it done.

"I know people use [the win at] Man City as a reference point, but I was able to put on Johnson and Werner, had Vicario in goal. I know people are looking for easy targets, but what the players are having to deal with is self evident.

"I've had questions about the Man City game, in seven days we have copped some significant blows, we can't play like we did against City in every game."