We fell behind early on in Birmingham on Wednesday evening, but Joao Pedro fired us to an impressive fight-back. With 35 minutes on the clock, he met Malo Gusto’s perfect low cross at the back post to equalise, then in added time at the end of the first half he lifted a delightful finish over Emiliano Martinez to send us in for the break with the lead.

Cole Palmer extended that advantage in the second half, before Joao Pedro completed his hat-trick from close range to put a potentially crucial three points beyond doubt, taking us above Liverpool in the Premier League table and within three points of fourth-placed Villa.

After the game, head coach Rosenior was full of praise for the Brazilian, highlighting how the work they have been doing on the training pitch at Cobham to sharpen his predatory instinct is paying off in matches.

‘He’s a top player,’ said Rosenior. ‘I think he’s growing in confidence. His hold-up play, the energy he puts into the team in terms of his press, his movement.

‘His goal with the left foot is world-class, the finish is magnificent, but actually I’m really delighted with his two tap-ins that he got. He was in the right place at the right time, we’ve worked hard with him on that.’

That work appears to be focused on a specific role – namely leading the Chelsea attack and carrying maximum goal threat in the opposition box. At times this season the Blues have ended games regretting not being more clinical with our chances. It seems Rosenior has identified Joao Pedro as part of the solution.

So far, it seems to be a good call by our head coach, who has aided Joao Pedro in settling to his task with consistency in his role. While for most of the season the Brazilian has alternated between being the central striker, a No.10 position or occasionally a slot on the wing, 11 of his 12 appearances under Rosenior have come spearheading the Chelsea forward line.

That has resulted in an impressive 10 goals and five assists by Joao Pedro in all competitions since Rosenior made his debut in the Blues dugout in mid-January.

The difference shows up strongly in Joao Pedro’s Premier League statistics during that time, clearly demonstrating what Rosenior wants from his striker. While the Brazilian is averaging fewer touches per game overall (39 compared to 44 before Rosenior’s arrival), he is actually getting on the ball more often in the opposition’s penalty area (6.5 times per game, compared to 4.5).

Our head coach said early in his tenure that Joao Pedro needs to be more selfish in the final third, and he must be happy with what he has seen since. The 24-year-old is now attempting 3.75 shots per game, more than double previously, averaging more than a goal a game.

You can’t argue with the end result, either. In his 624 minutes of Premier League action under Rosenior, Joao Pedro has scored eight goals. That is two more than he had managed in his previous 1,531 minutes of Premier League action in 2025/26.

That was demonstrated perfectly by the Brazilian’s ruthless efficiency in the final third at Villa Park. Joao Pedro’s 42 touches was the lowest of any player in the Chelsea starting XI, yet he converted them into five shots, four of which were on target, and three goals. His individual xG of 2.61 was more than three times that of the entire Aston Villa team combined. No wonder a massive 93 per cent of Blues supporters voted him as our Player of the Match on the Chelsea Official App.

It was Joao Pedro’s first hat-trick for Chelsea and his first in the Premier League for any team. He also becomes the first player to manage four involvements in a single Premier League game this season.

It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that it arrived against Aston Villa, as they are an opponent he seems to enjoy facing. In his six Premier League appearances against the Villans, he has recorded five goals and four assists.

That leaves him on 14 goals and five assists for Chelsea in the Premier League so far this season, both the highest of any Chelsea player. However, if he continues to improve his output along the same trend under Rosenior, there will surely be more to come between now and the end of the season.