Thomas Tuchel claimed his Chelsea side are barely hanging on during the festive period, and suggested the Premier League should re-think one of their rulings.

Chelsea returned to winning ways in the league with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Aston Villa. Despite Steven Gerrard missing the contest while self-isolating, Villa took the lead through a bizarre Reece James own goal.

Chelsea hit back almost immediately after Jorginho fired home from the spot. But with the first-half a meandering affair with relatively little goalmouth action, Tuchel sprang into action at the break.

The Blues boss introduced Romelu Lukaku to proceedings in place of Trevoh Chalobah. Lukaku provided an impetus Chelsea had been lacking in the final third and quickly got his name on the scoresheet just 10 minutes later.

His impact did not finish there, however, when Lukaku proved too quick and too strong for Villa’s defence when winning an injury time penalty. The automatic Jorginho once again converted from 12 yards.