Chelsea claim all three points to move up to third as they look towards CL qualification

Chelsea further strengthened their position in the Premier League’s top four as they resisted a fightback from Crystal Palace in an entertaining encounter at Selhurst Park, which included a stunning long-range strike from Wilfried Zaha and a rare goal from Christian Benteke.

Willian once again had a huge bearing on the game in the first half as two quick assists from him were converted by Olivier Giroud, who slotted home for Chelsea’s first goal of the game before Cristian Pulisic smashed home for the second goal.

Both goals came inside the first 30 minutes of the match.

Wilfried Zaha reduced the deficit with a thunderous strike from 30 yards, but substitute Tammy Abraham struck within six minutes of his introduction to restore Chelsea’s two-goal lead.

Christian Benteke made it 3-2 with a simple finish as Chelsea’s defensive shortcomings were exposed yet again.

https://youtu.be/QDifwFmpCxI

Chelsea were lucky not to have conceded a late equaliser as Palace were denied a dramatic stoppage-time leveler when Scott Dann’s header was tipped onto the post by Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Chelsea suffered a setback when they were beaten at West Ham six days ago, but apart from that, their restart has gone pretty much to plan.

A return of 12 points from a possible 15 has ensured they remain firmly in the mix for a place in next season’s Champions League.

They have now moved above Leicester and have an advantage over the teams below them who pose the biggest threat to their Champions League hopes such as Manchester United and Wolves.

Their performance once again showcased the attacking flair Frank Lampard has at his disposal, especially in Willian, who now has a couple of assists to go with the four goals he has scored since the restart, and Pulisic, who scored his third post-lockdown goal.

However, there remains a fragility at the back, with Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen not the most solid of center-back pairings, although the former did produce a stunning late tackle to deny Benteke.

Stats and facts from the match

• Chelsea have now won 132 of their 256 London derbies in the Premier League; their 52% win rate is the highest for any side in such matches.
• Crystal Palace have lost four consecutive matches for the first time since March 2018 – the fourth game in that run was also against Chelsea.
• Lampard is the first English Chelsea boss to achieve a league double over Crystal Palace since Dave Sexton in 1971-72.
• Chelsea striker Giroud has scored five goals in his past eight Premier League appearances; his previous five goals in the competition were spread across 49 games.
• Chelsea midfielder Gilmour (62 successful passes) is the first teenager to lead all players for successful passes in each of his first two Premier League starts since Denilson for Arsenal in March 2007.
• Palace winger Zaha’s strike came from a distance of just over 30 yards; none of his previous 35 Premier League goals were from more than 19 yards out.
• Benteke scored his first Premier League goal for Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park since April 2018 against Leicester, while this was his first such goal there excluding penalties since May 2017 against Hull.
• The average age of Crystal Palace’s starting XI was 30 years and 351 days, the oldest of any starting XI in the competition this season. Palace have named 17 of the 20 oldest starting line-ups in 2019-20.