Mauricio Pochettino was pleased with the ‘character and personality’ his players showed to fight back from two goals behind to draw with Aston Villa – and was disappointed to see Axel Disasi’s late header ruled out by VAR.

The Blues fell behind early into the contest when Marc Cucurella diverted John McGinn’s strike into his own net. Morgan Rogers then added a second for the home side shortly before the interval. It left Chelsea with much work to do after the restart.

A tactical tweak from Pochettino – Cucurella moving into midfield in possession – paid off and Chelsea were able to pull a goal back just before the hour mark as Noni Madueke swept home. With ten minutes to play, Chelsea were level as Conor Gallagher’s fine effort from 20 yards found the top corner.

The Blues were not done yet and went in search of a winner. Cole Palmer was denied a 21st Premier League goal of the campaign by Robin Olsen and the resultant corner led to Disasi heading home.

It appeared as though they had claimed all three points, but VAR ordered an on-field review and the winner was ruled out for a foul by Benoit Badiashile in the build-up.

“I think the referee didn’t see all the action and what he saw wasn’t far from him, but then the VAR change the decision. I think the referee saw the action [live] and didn’t see a foul. Then he checks on the VAR, but I think it was a challenge that happens a lot in football,” said Pochettino.

On the team’s reaction after the 5-0 thumping against Arsenal in their previous fixture, Pochettino said: “For me, the most important thing after Arsenal is that the team showed great character and personality. And we showed that with the way we fight in the second half, even if we didn’t deserve to go 2-0 down in the first half.

“I think the way we change the energy and dominate a good team like Aston Villa, I think that shows everyone that we are able to compete. If you analyse the 99 minutes, I think we were the better side.”