Chelsea came from behind to beat Aston Villa and reaffirm their grip on fourth place in the Premier League on Sunday.

Frank Lampard’s team were utterly dominant in terms of possession, but clear chances were at a premium in the first half – crosses were just missed by onrushing attackers, Mateo Kovacic fired just wide and Marcos Alonso spurned a great chance to shoot. To compound that profligacy, a rare Villa foray forward led to the opening goal just before the break, as Kortney Hause scored after his own initial effort was parried.

After the break it was again Chelsea on top and the pressure eventually told; Christian Pulisic netted a deserved equaliser on the hour mark, just after coming on as sub, before Olivier Giroud completed the turnaround just two minutes later. Here are five things we learned from the game at Villa Park:

Questions have been asked of where certain players will fit into the Chelsea line-up next season, given the already-confirmed incoming duo of Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner.

One of those is Mason Mount, a regular under Frank Lampard this season but still a youngster learning his way, rather than an established – and expensive – senior attacker.

Even so, he gave a good reminder here of just why he is so highly regarded at Stamford Bridge, being one of the few who looked like cutting through Villa’s massed ranks in the first half with an exciting combination of skilful dribbling and one-touch link-ups with his fellow attackers.

It’s also notable that Mount was given a largely roving central role, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek started wider on his own return to the team and failed to really impact – leaving Mount to play a key role in Giroud’s goal, which sealed the win.

Ahead of the match, Villa boss Dean Smith had pointed out that, although his side don’t possess a free-scoring No. 9, there was enough of a goal threat throughout the rest of the team to make up for it.

In particular, he noted the set-piece threat his team posed, name-checking his defenders as potential avenues to goals – and his words proved prophetic in the first half.

Villa had barely threatened Kepa at all before taking the lead shortly before half time, Kortney Hause scoring at the second attempt after a deep delivery from the right.

Other than from set-pieces, Villa created nothing of note all game long and, although exceptions can be made in this game given the opposition, they will need to be far braver on the ball to take points in future games.

Credit to Lampard for not letting the game drift away; he made a double sub only 10 minutes into the second half and there was an immediate impact for one.

Pulisic had only been on the field a matter of minutes before he arrived to brilliantly control a side-footed volley into the roof of the net, a nice nod to Lampard’s timing and choices – but also another reminder of the quality at his disposal for next term.

Ziyech and Werner can both play from the sides of the Chelsea attack, but Pulisic has been a regular goal threat during his different spells in the team. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he won back a spot across the remainder of this season, and he’ll be a tough name to leave out if he keeps producing in front of goal.

For Lampard, of course, the battle for places is a perfect problem to have.

Consistency issues have blighted several teams aiming for a European spot this season, so Chelsea resuming with a win is a big positive in the search for a Champions League place.

Tottenham and Man United drew on Saturday, while Arsenal are certainly out of the running now if they weren’t beforehand. Even better, Sheffield United lost to Newcastle earlier on Sunday – before Chelsea took three points at Villa Park to give themselves a five-point buffer down to fifth.

Of course, it could even be that fifth is enough, if Manchester City’s European ban is upheld, but that shouldn’t be factoring into Chelsea’s hopes at this point.

Given they face City themselves next in the league, three points here was imperative, particularly given the way they dominated the majority of the 90 minutes.

Villa remain in the bottom three after this defeat, and although they didn’t deserve anything from the game, the result will still feel slightly sour as they led.

At half-time, the live table showed them up to 16th, a real reminder of what they had to lose.

They need to be braver and more creative in some of their upcoming games, even if the opponent is seen as stronger – draws won’t cut it at this point.

It’s notable that key man Jack Grealish had minimal impact in the final third, as he was often too deep to affect their play and rarely did they have sustained possession upfield – something that will need to change if Villa are to find the wins they require to survive.