Analysis: Villa Park fortress flattened with hosts unravelling

Aston Villa are unravelling. There is no question or doubt they are succumbing to the pressure, and struggling with expectation and a lack of depth, while they battle for the top five.

Victory would have put them nine points clear of Chelsea - but instead the Blues are hunting them down.

Ollie Watkins had a chance at 3-1 down to give Villa hope, rounding goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen without getting a shot away, which summed up his form and Villa's slump.

It is one win in seven in all competitions for Unai Emery's side, who were also dumped out of the FA Cup by Newcastle during that run.

Only time will tell if back-to-back defeats by Wolves and Chelsea are as damaging as they seem. The next Premier League game, a trip to Manchester United on 15 March, may make the picture clearer.

While they remain in the top four, Villa's fragilities are showing. If their fate goes right to the end of the season, they have two testing matches to finish - against Liverpool and Manchester City.

Villa Park was a fortress during that 12-month unbeaten home league run, but no longer.

Emery's side have lost four of their past seven home outings and during that sequence they needed late goals to take a point against Leeds and beat Brighton.

Fans had already started heading for the exits once Chelsea went 4-1 up. By the end, the stadium was barely a quarter full.