Report: How Chelsea Managed To Beat Crystal Palace And Secure A Top Four Spot

Chelsea thrashed Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Saturday by a margin of 2-0 to stay at the third position in the League table. Chelsea has collected 26 points so far from 12 matches and they are eight points behind the league leaders, Liverpool, ahead of the International Break. The Blues have been performing really well under the management of Frank Lampard in this season. They have to back-to-back six matches in a row in the Premier League.

The Story Of The Game That Chelsea Did Well In

Frank Lampard made two changes in the starting lineup against Crystal Palace. Reece James started in place of Cesar Azpilicueta and N’Golo Kante was there in place of Jorginho in the midfield as the latter was suspended for a match after getting five yellow cards already in this season.

Chelsea were playing really well in this match. Willian was shown a yellow card at the 17th minute of the match. He fouled a player of Crystal Palace who was supposed to start a counter-attack for the away side. On the other hand, Wilfried Zaha was also booked after committing a bad foul on Reece James. Emerson Palmieri and Mateo Kovacic were also shown yellow cards. Joel Ward was taken off at the 44th minute of the match and Martin Kelly was introduced in the field. In the first half, Chelsea got quite a few opportunities. However, they were unable to get a breakthrough in the first 45 minutes of the match. The first half ended with a score-line of 0-0 at Stamford Bridge.

At the 52nd minute of the match, Tammy Abraham broke the deadlock as Willian provided a great ball towards Tammy Abraham who timed his run perfectly and placed the ball inside the goal. It was a 10th goal for the young Chelsea centre-forward in 12 matches so far. Jeffrey Schlupp was introduced in place of James McArthur at the 70th minute of the match. Michy Batshuyai was also included in place of the goal-scorer Tammy Abraham at the 73rd minute of the match. Six minutes later it was the combination of Michy Batshuyai and Christian Pulisic which produced the goal for the Blues.

How The Game Ended With A Win For The Blues?

Christian Pulisic headed the ball towards goal from the pass provided by Michy Batshuyai.  Pulisic was taken off at the 80th minute to introduce Callum Hudson-Odoi in the field. James McCarthy was introduced in place of Cheikhou Kouyate at the 82nd minute of the match. Frank Lampard tried to give some minutes of Premier League football to Billy Gilmour who was introduced in place of Mason Mount at the 87th minute of the match.

James McCarthy was booked at the injury time for a bad foul. Chelsea got all three points from this match and it was much needed from their aspect. Frank Lampard’s side will certainly be in the title race after the defeat of Manchester City against Liverpool on Sunday.

The Blues will face Manchester City at Etihad Stadium after the International Break, while Crystal Palace will welcome Liverpool at Selhurst Park in the next match. A tough task lies ahead for both sides in the top flight of English football.