Chelsea took another step towards Champions League qualification with a nervy 3-2 victory against Crystal Palace.
Passive defending, so often the downfall of Frank Lampard’s youthful team, nearly cost them again as they surrendered control of a game they appeared to have wrapped up after just 30 minutes. Racing into a two-goal lead courtesy of Olivier Giroud and Christian Pulisic, the game was turned on its head by a moment of magic by Wilfred Zaha. The Ivorian winger, who has struggled for form this season, smashed home from 29 yards out to halve the deficit and dramatically change the tempo of the game.
Palace began to dominate possession, but as has so often been the case since the restart, Chelsea’s substitutes made the desired impact.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek strode forward on the break before picking out Tammy Abraham who side-footed his effort into the bottom corner. Palace replied almost immediately, however, with Christian Benteke tapping into an empty net after good work by former Blue Patrick Van-Aanholt. Chelsea held out for the victory but only once Kepa Arrizabalaga had tipped Scott Dann’s header on to the post very late on.
Here’s how we rated the Chelsea players after the game:
