Epl review: Crystal Palace 2 vs Chelsea 1 : the player ratings
The Eagles showed intent early on, Andros Townsend drove forward on the counter and found Wilfried Zaha who was eventually denied by Thibaut Courtois. They then fortuitously took the lead with their first goal of the season in the 11th minute thanks to Cesar Azpilicueta’s back. The Spaniard was unfortunate to deflect Yohan Cabaye’s loose touch beyond a wrong-footed Courtois. Tiémoué Bakayoko levelled the score with his first league goal for the Blues via a downward header from Cesc Fàbregas’ corner 7 minutes later. Victor Moses departed with a suspected hamstring issue late in the half. On the stroke of half time, a rampaging Mamadou Sakho dispossessed Willian in his own half and played in Zaha, who then cut in from the left and placed his shot in Courtois’ far corner.
In the second half, Fàbregas clipped the top of Julián Speroni’s crossbar with a 25-yard drive. Later, he started a move that saw Eden Hazard play Pedro through on goal, only to be denied by Palace’s recalled icon, Speroni. Acrobatics were required from the Argentine again as he denied Marcos Alonso an equaliser from another Fàbregas corner. At the other end, a wandering Patrick van Aanholt fluffed the follow up as Courtois parried a long-range Townsend strike. A final moment of drama occurred in injury time as Sakho attempted to clear the ball in his own area with an audacious backheel and inadvertently presented Fàbregas with a glaring opportunity that he dragged wide.
For Chelsea and Antonio Conte, it is back to back defeats and further ground ceded to their rivals. The return of Álvaro Morata and N’Golo Kanté cannot come quick enough. They host Roma in the Champions League in midweek prior to a Premier League clash with Watford next weekend. For Crystal Palace and Roy Hodgson, a shock result after a disastrous start to their campaign. The return of Wilfried Zaha could galvanise their season. They head to Newcastle next weekend hoping to build on this result.
LINE-UPS & RATINGS:
Crystal Palace (3-4-2-1) Speroni (7); Ward (7), Dann (7), Sakho (7), Schlupp (6) van Aanholt (7); Milivojevic (7), Cabaye (7), McArthur (7); Townsend (8), Zaha (9).
Subs: Puncheon on at 75’ for Schlupp (NA); Fosu-Mensah on at 85’ for McArthur (6); Riedewald on at 86’ for Cabaye (NA).
Chelsea (3-4-2-1) Courtois (6); Azpilicueta (4), Luiz (5), Cahill (5); Moses (5), Fabregas (6), Bakayoko (5), Alonso (5); Willian (5), Hazard (5); Batshuayi (4).
Subs: Zappacosta on at 40’ for Moses (6); Pedro on at 57’ for Batshuayo (6); Musonda on at 65’ for Willian (5).
TOP: Zaha – the returning winger played as an unorthodox forward and was a persistent threat, running himself into the ground. At times, unplayable.
FLOP: Azpilicueta – one of the most consistent defenders in the league had an uncharacteristically torrid afternoon and could not handle Zaha.
By @kieranhepworth