The Blues silenced doubters as they beat their high flying London rivals.
Frank Lampard’s new left back Ben Chilwell scored and assisted the first two goals to get Chelsea up and running. Crystal Palace never really put up a fight and it was always clear the Blues would run out comfortable winners.
Despite the score line, the teams went in level at the half time interval. This was mainly due to Vicente Guaita who saved a close-range Werner chance after a quick counterattack. This was the only real chance during the first half.
It did look like it was going to be a boring match before Chilwell struck the ball home after a bit of confusion in the Crystal Palace area. Only 16 minutes later and they had doubled their lead as Zouma met Chilwell’s cross to put Chelsea comfortably ahead.
The home side were cruising before Jorginho dispatched of two late penalties to give Lampard’s men an emphatic win. For the first penalty, Abraham was brought down in the box despite not being in a dangerous position. Not even five minutes later, Sakho brought down Havertz to give Chelsea their second penalty.
This win was vital for Chelsea as their performances this season have been brought into question. Despite the huge summer outlay, Chelsea have looked poor this season which included that first half performance against West Brom. For Crystal Palace this was their second defeat of the season. Although there doesn’t seem to be any concerns around the Eagles, they will want to bounce back from this embarrassing defeat after the international break.
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