Wasting no time in asserting their authority on proceedings in West London, Enzo Maresca’s side broke the deadlock in the seventh minute when Nicolas Jackson fired home a clinical left-footed strike past Emiliano Martínez at his near post.
Villa were aggrieved by Marc Cucurella’s challenge on Jaden Philogene in the build-up to the goal before the Spaniard provided a cut-back to Jackson, but the full-back appeared to get the ball first.
The Senegal international had now opened the scoring inside 10 minutes in four different Premier League games this calendar year – more than any other player.
It was the latest setback in a challenging period for Unai Emery’s side, who could have restored parity had Ollie Watkins elected to square the ball to Morgan Rogers rather than fire a tame effort straight at Robert Sanchez.
The Villans were looking vulnerable, and conceded a rare indirect free-kick when Pau Torres was penalised for a back pass to Martínez.
The Argentine shot-stopper denied Cole Palmer from the subsequent set-piece, but almost committed a howler moments later when he passed the ball straight to Jackson before impressively recovering the ball.
Chelsea kept the pressure on, and doubled their lead at the end of a wonderful free-flowing move, as Enzo Fernández expertly took Palmer’s pass into his stride before clinically dispatching a right-footed strike into the bottom corner.
Martínez was visibly struggling as the first half came to a close, and was replaced between the sticks by Robin Olsen, who last appeared for the Villans on the final day of last season, when they conceded five against Crystal Palace.
He initially remained untroubled, as Jackson blazed an effort over the bar after being played through by Fernández.
However, the Swede found himself picking the ball out of his net in the 83rd minute, as he could do nothing to prevent Palmer’s superb long-range shot from nestling in.
The strike was significant for Palmer, as it made him the second-fastest player to score 30 Premier League goals for Chelsea – doing so in 46 games – only five more than Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who managed the feat in 41.
Maresca’s side saw out the remainder of the second half with relative ease to claim all three points, which moves them up to third in the table.
The clean sheet will be especially coveted for hosts, given the fact it ends a run of six consecutive top-flight matches at home without a defensive shut-out.
Meanwhile, Villa have now gone five successive Premier League games without a win and sit languishing in 12th spot going into the new week.