Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 3
Roy Hodgson’s team welcomed Chelsea to Selhurst Park for a London derby. The Blues were looking to make it thirteen consecutive wins against The Eagles, which would be their most against any side. The Eagles were without some key players with both Olise and Eze missing.
The visitors dominated possession but their passing game seemed to lack any penetration. It all looked neat and tidy up to the edge of the hosts’ penalty area but Pochettino’s side were lacking that killer pass in the final third.
Palace started to grow in confidence the longer the game went on, without Chelsea having a single shot at goal. Defensively, the visitors were looking very questionable and were struggling to clear their lines when the hosts ventured forward.
As The Blues dallied on the ball, Crystal Palace won the ball with Jefferson Lerma. He shifted the ball in front of him before striking a great shot from outside the box, which arrowed into the far corner with Petrovic not able to do anything about it.
Credit: @premierleague
Despite their anger with the owners and manager, Selhurst Park erupted and they were behind their team for the entire first half. Once they had seen Lerma get his first goal in a Crystal Palace shirt, the stadium was bouncing, literally.
Unbelievably, Chelsea went in at the break a goal down, despite having had 77% possession. More worryingly for their manager, they had not mustered a single shot on or off target. Some harsh words were needed at the interval.
The Blues came out in the second half, seeming to have more intent in their play. Not that it would have been difficult from that lacklustre display. Gusto crossed into the box, bouncing just in front of Gallagher who volleyed into the goal against his old side.
Many players choose not to celebrate in these circumstances but not Conor Gallagher. His reaction was like he had just scored the winner in the Champions League final, ironic really, as it is a competition it seems The Blues will not see for some time.
As Crystal Palace came forward for a rare attack, Franca picked the ball up and ran towards the edge of the box. He got his shot away but it was all too close to Petrovic who beat the ball out and Chelsea managed to clear their lines.
It seemed the game was destined for a draw until a Palace attack broke down and the visitors shifted the ball quickly out wide to Palmer. He used his pace to get down the wing, looked up and played a pass into the oncoming Gallagher.
Credit: @ChelseaFC
He struck his shot first time and it nestled into the bottom corner to surely give Chelsea the win in added time, while breaking the hearts of fans who once sang his name. It seemed like Pochettino’s side had managed to grab victory from the jaws of defeat.
The Eagles had to throw players forward in search of an equaliser but the visitors just picked them off once again on the break. Palmer slowed his run, waiting for some support and threaded it into the path of Enzo Fernandez.
He picked his moment, dummying a couple of shots, before lifting the ball into the corner of the net. Henderson couldn’t get anywhere near it and the goal acted as the icing on the cake for the West Londoners at Selhurst Park.
The manner of the defeat will have hurt Roy Hodgson’s side and the fans once again made their thoughts known on the full time whistle. Chelsea have a tough run of fixtures now as they face Man City, Tottenham and Liverpool in their next three games.
Victories against teams in the bottom half of the table do not mark Pochettino’s side turning a corner but their next three games will show where they are in their project. That is a worry for another day though as they celebrate a good second half performance to take all three points.
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