Chelsea and Aston Villa played to a scoreless stalemate in their FA Cup fourth-round match on Friday, although it wasn't for a lack of trying.
The teams put a combined nine shots on target throughout the contest at Stamford Bridge, and Chelsea had a gilt-edged chance inside the six-yard box denied by Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, as neither side was able to find a winner to avoid a replay.
For Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino, the result was disappointing but perhaps a bit predictable. The Blues were last in action three days earlier, pummeling Middlesbrough 6-1 to earn a spot in the Carabao Cup final.
Pochettino believes the short turn-around between games was a factor in Friday's match, in addition to a lack of finishing inside the box.
"I think it was a very good game, I think we dominated more of the beginning," Pochettino told BBC Sport. "Then in the second half, after 70 minutes, we start to drop our energy because we played three days ago, and of course that is a massive difference.
"When we were with the full energy we were the better side. Now is to think about the replay and of course move on and try to recover the players for the next game.
"I am so happy with the performance of the whole team, I think the performance was good we just weren't clinical enough. For them to face a team like Aston Villa who are doing fantastic in the Premier League and are in the top four, I think it's a very good signal that we are improving.
"Of course we wanted to win. we were not clinical enough. But we created chances and we need to keep believing and now we move on."
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