Douglas Luiz had opened the scoring for the Villans with his goal in the second-minute of the tie - but Joao Pedro stole the show with a hat-trick of goals.

He levelled with his first effort after 35 minutes and put the Blues in to the lead for the first time in the game deep into first-half stoppage time.

Cole Palmer was on target 10 minutes into the second period and Pedro added his third goal with 63 minutes on the clock.

Speaking after the game, a delighted Pedro says he is living out his childhood dreams at Chelsea.

He told the club's website: "It was a dream night for me. Since I joined Chelsea, I've been dreaming of these moments to play for a big team and get my hat-trick – and I think it was a perfect night to get my first hat-trick."

The result saw Liam Rosenior's team move on to 48 points from 29 games, and left Villa on 51 points, from 29 points.

"We just need to keep moving forward," added Pedro. "I'm just living my dream here. I'm very grateful to everyone who has helped me on my journey.

"I think everyone was perfect. When the team plays like this, I will get chances. I think everyone was top. It was a special day – everyone did a brilliant job. We still have nine games to look forward to and fight to be in the top four.

"All my goals came from being in the right place at the right time. The team expects that from me. The goals were always important."

Delighted Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Chelsea's victory, saying: "We knew coming into the game in terms of the season and what we want to achieve that it was a big game. The team stepped up. I thought it was an outstanding team performance.

"Obviously, Joao will get the plaudits and rightly so but some of our possession play, our incision, pressing, our energy, our commitment to defend was top but it needs to continue."

Villa boss Unai Emery explained that his team are going through a rough patch. He explanied on TNT Sports: "We are now in a bad moment. A bad moment. Chelsea are so happy and they deserved to win.

"We can understand the situation we have now. Overall, we are still three points in front, okay. We are not being consistent in this moment.

"In 29 matches we are better than them [Chelsea]. Not today. Now is the moment to find solutions and to try to recover good form and feeling together in everything.

"We need to get some days working and getting balance like we are not doing like before.

"We need to do the last two months with the objective we have, how we can regain our structure.

"We are now doing something wrong in the structure - it is not strong like it was before. This is now my concern. I will share it with the players. There is still time to recover it."

Tottenham sign Villarreal forward Arnaut Danjuma on loan until end of season