A ruthless second-half attacking display saw Chelsea move, albeit temporarily, into second place as Christian Pulisic and Tammy Abraham both netted to break Crystal Palace’s stubborn resistance.
Reece James came in for his first Premier League start and with Wilfried Zaha to contend with it appeared to pose a daunting task for the 19-year-old, but one he more than matched with a physical and disciplined performance. Zaha was starved of possession, completing more fouls than take-ons in a remarkable role reversal of the type of performance he tends to terrorise Premier League defenders with. Chelsea exhibited control across the backline and this allowed Willian to pick up the ball and drive into space, tracking back and turning over possession before drawing players in centrally and distributing out wide to Pulisic who showed superb footwork to retain possession and pick out a teammate or a shot on goal.
There was however no reward for the promising work the Blues had shown for much of the first half, and until Abraham opened the scoring it looked set to be a frustrating afternoon for Frank Lampard’s young guns – today’s starting eleven was the youngest ever fielded by Chelsea at 24 years and 88 days. The crucial first goal was reflective of all Chelsea’s good work, starting with a storming run through midfield by Mateo Kovacic who laid the ball into the path Willian to back heel instinctively through to Abraham who found the corner with consummate ease to take the Englishman into double figures for the season.
The goal mustered a response from the wounded Eagles, and Chelsea began to drop off Palace’s forward line at an alarming rate. Despite a few scares Chelsea weathered the storm and soon began to turn the screw, drawing Vicente Guaita into a string of impressive saves before Pulisic headed in his fifth goal in three games from a loose ball in the six-yard box to make the points safe.
