ITV commentator mocks Thiago Silva and his wife Belle during Chelsea’s win over Aston Villa

Thiago Silva was dropped for Chelsea’s FA Cup tie against Aston Villa (Credits: Alamy Live News.)

ITV commentator John Champion couldn’t resist a cheeky dig at the axed Thiago Silva and his wife Belle during Chelsea’s FA Cup win over Aston Villa last night.

The Blues bounced back from recent defeats against Liverpool and Wolves to produce arguably their most coherent performance of a troubled season to date.

First half goals from Conor Gallagher and Nicolas Jackson put the visitors into a commanding first-half lead and a fifth round tie against Leeds was all but confirmed when Enzo Fernandez scored a sensational free-kick 10 minutes into the second period.

Pochettino made several brave calls with his team selection, all of which were vindicated, with the most noteworthy being the decision to drop his most experienced centre-half.

The Argentine revealed he had held crunch talks with the 39-year-old following his wife’s social media outburst on Sunday, when she appeared to call for Chelsea manager to be sacked in the wake of a catastrophic 4-2 loss.

With Chelsea coasting towards victory in the absence of the Brazilian centre-half, veteran mic man Champion took the opportunity to make reference to Silva watching on from the bench.

‘Something needs to change,’ Champion remarked during the match coverage. ‘Well, maybe they found the thing. Drop her husband.’

Chelsea are through to the fifth round of the FA Cup (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Enzo Fernandez’s free-kick capped a superb Chelsea performance (Picture: Getty)

Pochettino was coy when asked about the decision to drop the former PSG and Milan star before the game and post match was more inclined to talk about the excellence of his side over the course of 90 minutes.

He said: ‘I’m really pleased because first of all the players were fantastic, they played really well,’ said Pochettino.

‘They enjoyed it and that is the most important thing. They enjoyed in the game against a team that is doing fantastic job, so difficult to beat here.

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‘I think they’re the second best team at home. Full of confidence in the top four.

‘I’m really, really pleased with the performance. I think it provides us with the capacity to really believe and that we are all together.

If we are all together, and we fight together, and we approach the game in the way we approach today, then I think we are able to perform this way.’

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