Analysis: Aston Villa's big investment looking shrewd after loan stars combine for vital win

There might not be too many quite so important.

With around 60 seconds plus stoppages remaining, Villa appeared destined to draw a match their manager, Unai Emery, had effectively branded must-win.

Then Rashford crossed, Asensio volleyed and goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen somehow allowed the ball to escape his grasp. From lurking on the fringes of the race for Champions League football next season, Villa were suddenly right in the thick of it, pulling to within a point of Chelsea and full of renewed optimism thanks to their new-look, supercharged attack.

It was for moments like these the club were content to commit around £500,000-a-week for the rest of the season in wages to Rashford and Asensio. The final verdict won’t arrive until the end of the campaign but the early signs are it may prove a canny investment. Villa beat Chelsea on Saturday primarily because they had greater quality in reserve. Imagine saying that a couple of years ago.

Rashford already looks a player revitalised. In the space of three Premier League appearances, two of them as substitute, the Manchester United loanee can claim to have earned Villa four points.

A week after coming off the bench to salvage a point against Ipswich, it was again to the 27-year-old Emery turned at half-time after Villa, trailing to Enzo Fernandez’s ninth-minute opener, had struggled to find the final pass against a Chelsea defence which appeared there to be got at.