Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
Week four of the 2020/21 Premier League campaign got underway a short time ago.
The first tie of the week pitted Frank Lampard’s Chelsea against Crystal Palace.
Chelsea, despite their huge summer spending, heading into Saturday’s game yet to really find their form this term.
The Blues last outing saw them ousted from the League Cup vs Tottenham and before that, they were held to a 3-3 draw vs recently-promoted West Brom.
Crystal Palace, on the other hand, have had a solid start to the campaign, picking up two wins from three – one of which came against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
As a result, the Eagles will no doubt have fancied their chances of getting something from a Chelsea side still unable to start either of Christian Pulisic or Hakim Ziyech:
Here’s how we line up today. #CHECRY pic.twitter.com/HPxO74jqMZ
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 3, 2020
COME ON YOU PALACE #CPFC | #CHECRY
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) October 3, 2020
But when all was said and done at the Bridge, it would be Chelsea who came away with a comfortable 3-0 victory.
Chelsea dominate
Chelsea, despite their rather patchy form, started the game very positively.
The Blues were getting a fair bit of joy out wide with Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ben Chilwell and Cesar Azpilicueta all looking to cause Palace problems early on.
Tammy Abraham was then presented with a lovely cross from Jorginho, but the Englishman was unable to direct his header on target.
N’Golo Kante then smashed an effort over 14 minutes in as Chelsea struggled to break down a very deep Palace backline.
Perhaps Chelsea’s best chance of the opening 20 minutes fell to Timo Werner, who hit his effort straight at the Palace keeper after the home side had counter-attacked well. This was followed by Jorginho striking an effort over moments later after yet another solid delivery from Chilwell.
The left-back produced another superb delivery from a corner 25 minutes in, with Abraham this time heading over.
The Chelsea no.9 found himself presented him another good opportunity shortly before the break, but Abraham was unable to properly control the ball from Jorginho.
However, for all their dominance, Chelsea went in at the break without opening the scoring.
As for Palace, they caused Chelsea very few problems and were unable to muster up a single shot on target during the first 45. The Eagles, though, had largely defended well and limited the clear-cut chances Chelsea had.
Chilwell stars
As was the case in the first 45, Chelsea began proceedings in the second half very much on the front foot.
And with 50 minutes on the clock, Lampard’s men were eventually awarded for their dominance.
A loose ball in the Palace box fell to Ben Chilwell, who riffled his effort straight past Vicente Guaita.
A Premier League debut to remember for Ben Chilwell!
The full-back scores his first goal in the blue of Chelsea pic.twitter.com/n27OwBXwdV
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 3, 2020
Chilwell then came close to turning provider. The England international whipped yet another superb corner in just before the hour mark. But as had been a theme throughout the day, Kurt Zouma glanced his headed effort wide.
The Frenchman would, however, make no mistakes five minutes later when Chilwell once again produced another outstanding cross, which Zouma rose highest to meet before smashing his header into the top of Palace’s net.
The ball in from Chilwell
The leap from Zouma2-0 Chelsea! pic.twitter.com/TGMukYPJrU
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 3, 2020
Abraham then really should have killed the game off 15 minutes from time. But the attacker directed his header wide. The hitman redeemed himself seconds later, however, winning a penalty for the Blues.
Jorginho then stepped up and made no mistake, adding Chelsea’s 3rd and ensuring they were coming away with all three points.
Palace collapsed somewhat after the 3rd, giving away a second penalty, which Jorginho once again stepped up to convert.
The final whistle blew with the score at 4-0 and Ben Chilwell most certainly man of the match.
Obviously, a lot of the spotlight has been on the signings of Timo Werner and Kai Havertz of late.
And though Chilwell still set the Londoners back a premium fee, his addition had somewhat been overlooked.
However, the full-backs display against Palace showed exactly why Chelsea signed him from Leicester.
The 23-year-old was almost faultless at both ends of the pitch, with his crossing ability a particular highlight.
And though Chelsea as a squad do look to still have some issues to work out, Lampard and co. should be able to take comfort in the fact they have arguably solved their left-back issue for at least the next few years.
3 – Ben Chilwell is just the third player to both score and assist a goal on their Premier League debut for Chelsea, after Deco in August 2008 and Alvaro Morata in August 2017. Value. #CHECRY pic.twitter.com/P0DecuSyQp
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 3, 2020
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Chelsea vs Crystal Palace Week four of the 2020/21 Premier League campaign got underway a short time ago. The first tie of the week pitted Frank Lampard’s Chelsea against Crystal Palace. Chelsea, despite their huge summer spending, heading into Saturday’s game yet to really find their form this term. The Blues last outing saw themFootball (soccer) greatest goals and highlights | 101 Great Goals – Feed