Unbridled joy for the bottom-ranked Eagles, but continued despair for the Blues!
A despondent Thibaut Courtois looks on after Chelsea's loss to Crystal Palace (Photo: AFP)
Defending champions Chelsea slumped to their second consecutive defeat of the Premier League season on Saturday as bottom-ranked Crystal Palace stunned the Blues 2-1 in a hard-fought game at Selhurst Park.
The Eagles, scoreless in their first seven outings, fortuitously opened the scoring when a clearance rebounded off Cesar Azpilicueta and nestled in Thibaut Courtois’ goal in the 11th minute.
Antonio Conte’s men were stung into action and responded within seven minutes via summer signing Tiemoue Bakayoko. The Frenchman rose highest to head home Cesc Fabregas’s cross for his first Premier League goal.
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Wilfried Zaha would then score Palace’s second seconds before the interval, dancing past two Blues’ defenders before cooly slotting past Courtois from an angle to score what turned out to be the winner.
Chelsea, without club-record signing Alvaro Morata, looked a bit toothless in attack and despite the best efforts of his stand-in, Michy Batshuayi, were unable to find a way past Wayne Hennessey again.
Palace, managed by former England manager Roy Hodgson, were resolute in defence and managed to keep the likes of Eden Hazard and co quiet for a priceless three points.
Mamadou Sakho gave the home fans a bit of a scare in the closing stages, but by and large Palace were largely untroubled by the visitors, who had the majority of possession.
While they remain rooted at the bottom of the table, the Eagles will hope that this win could turn their fortunes around as they seek to remain in the top-flight for another season.
For Chelsea, however, things are going from bad to worse and while it is true Morata’s absence hampered them, they had enough quality in the side to eke out a routine win.
They remain in fourth place, nine points behind leaders Manchester City but could slip to fifth if Arsenal beat Watford in Saturday’s late kick-off.
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