João Pedro hit his first English Premier League hat-trick on Wednesday, as Chelsea zoomed to a morale-boosting 4-1 win over fellow UEFA Champions League (UCL) qualification chasers Aston Villa at Villa Park.

The two sides came into this encounter separated by six points in the race for a spot in Europe’s premier club competition.

Villa were the side in the better position as they led the Blues in the table, and they needed just three minutes to break the deadlock when Douglas Luiz backheeled Leon Bailey’s cross into the back of the net.

Nevertheless, Chelsea responded well as they looked to bounce back from their Matchday 28 defeat to Arsenal, with Pedro’s header forcing an important stop from Emiliano Martinez shortly after.

Next to test the Argentinian goalkeeper was Cole Palmer, although that intervention was far more routine.

Eventually, though, Chelsea did have their equaliser when Pedro slid in to tap Malo Gusto’s pinpoint low cross into an empty net, and then scored a total of three goals in the entertaining encounter.