The two sides began the day on equal points, with Chelsea in tenth position and Aston Villa in eleventh in the Premier League, but this was not a traditional mid-table clash, with both teams vying to make up ground in their seasons following managerial changes.
Goals from Ollie Watkins and John McGinn ensured that it was the visitors who managed to take home all three points and extend their great recent run, picking up 19 points from their last 10 league games.
Contrasting Fortunes -
Shortly after a curling McGinn effort hit the crossbar, Watkins took advantage of a defensive error from Chelsea pair Marc Cucurella and Kalidou Koulibaly to open the scoring. All it took was a chip of a bouncing ball over a stricken Kepa Arrizabalaga for Watkins to score in his fifth consecutive away game for Unai Emery's Villa.
The first half was end to end, with Aston Villa happy to play on the counter-attack and taking their opportunities through forcing errors from Chelsea or catching them on their heels.
Cucurella tussled relentlessly with Jacob Ramsey, and Ben Chilwell, who was often central to positive plays from the home side, was consistently fouled in a frustrating first half for Chelsea. He was unlucky to see a headed goal ruled out for having his hands on the back of Ashley Young as the first half drew to a close.
But, the very last action of the first half saw Cucurella get in the way of an attempted cross by his teammate Chilwell, highlighting another instance of the Spaniard's poor positioning in the game.
One at the Back -
Chelsea manager Graham Potter is known for switching up his team, tactics and formations from time to time. But, the inclusion of Kalidou Koulibaly as the only recognised centre-back for Chelsea raised eyebrows, with Reece James and Marc Cucurella occupying the two positions either side of the Koulibaly in a defensive back three.
This was a gamble that did not pay off and yet strangely was not rectified even when the visitors doubled their lead, which must have left Benoit Badiashile scratching his head on the sidelines at his omission.
Instead, Potter opted for N'Golo Kante, which would have been a welcome sight for Chelsea supporters, having not witnessed the Frenchman in a blue shirt since August, after suffering a long lay-off due to injury.
When captain Mateo Kovacic was substituted, the armband was handed over to Kante, signifying his importance to this Chelsea side and how much he has been missed this season. Despite showing his typical energy and vigour in the second half, he was unable to alter Chelsea's disappointing evening.
Bottom Dollar -
With the incredible amount of investment made by Chelsea owner Todd Boehly since taking over the club from Roman Abramovich, it is truly remarkable that following their defeat to Aston Villa, Chelsea now occupy a position in the bottom half of the table.
The West Londoners have not finished in the bottom half of the league in a domestic campaign since the 1995-96 season.
£88 million pound man Mykhailo Mudryk has shown very brief moments of promise and electric speed since his arrival, but his final product appears to be quite a long way from refined.
And, that does not seem to have escaped the notice of his teammates either; Joao Felix chose to pass to Kai Havertz when through on goal, rather than the unmarked Ukrainian who was arguably in a better position.
When Mudryk himself had the opportunity to take a strike when clean through on goal, he did so tamely, passing the ball into the arms of the waiting Emi Martinez. Mudryk was substituted early on in the second half and, for the ninth time under Potter's management, Chelsea failed to score, despite registering eight shots on target.
Sights Ashore -
With Aston Villa seemingly on the rise up the table, and now taking up a position in the top half, thoughts must surely be on securing European football for next season at Villa Park.
Villa have not failed to score a goal in any game since Emery took over from Steven Gerrard, and Watkins has emerged as their main man since the departure of Danny Ings. His composed finish set Villa on their way, with a second added by man of the match, John McGinn securing the points after the restart, unleashing a stunning strike from outside the penalty area to finish off Chelsea.
The only silver lining of this disappointing season so far for Chelsea is that they remain in European competition, with a match against Real Madrid coming in just ten days time.
It would take a remarkable run to see them qualify for any such competition next season based on league position, so they must pull off a two-legged victory over the reigning champions if they are to compete with the very best next season.
As crazy as it may sound, they do have form in this area, winning the trophy in 2012 whilst in similarly underwhelming circumstances domestically.
Before that though, Chelsea will take on Liverpool, who are also having an unexpectedly difficult season, and supporters will be unlikely to want another repeat of the 0-0 drew these sides produced in the reverse fixture.