This should have been simpler for Chelsea. Against a Crystal Palace team with nothing to play for – neither Europe nor the surviving Premier League – took the lead with two goals.
At that point, the idea that this derby became nervous for Frank Lampard and his players felt bizarre. They were fluent on the ball and, in the mercury Christian Pulisic, who scored the second with a thunderous blow, can boast one of the players in the form of the division.
But the problem for Chelsea is that they have to play both ways and when they defend themselves, they can seem less secure. When Wilfried Zaha unleashed a firecracker that sizzled Kepa Arrizabalaga, the Chelsea goalkeeper under pressure, it was the reason why a race broke out – what the Lampard team would eventually overcome, but only after talking to a disaster .
Alternatively, Tammy Abraham scored 3-1 with his first goal since January 11, only for Christian Benteke who immediately responded to Palace. Chelsea had a 4-2 chance, particularly through Abraham, who scored a shot when he is gloriously placed.
But Chelsea was not in the mood to make life easy for themselves, they appeared addicted to danger and, during a five-minute break, they almost paid the price. To Lampard’s frustration, Abraham lost the ball cheaply and, following a cross from Zaha, Scott Dann thought he had scored with a header.
Arrizabalaga, however, put his fingertips on the ball to rub it against the inside of the post and away. There was still time for Palace to threaten again through Benteke only for Kurt Zouma to embark on a saving challenge. The full-time whistle brought exaltation and relief in equal measure for Lampard. His team remains in the driver’s seat for a Champions League finish.
“Kepa should be powered by that late save – it saved us two points,” said Lampard. “And it was very important for Tammy to score. He is desperate for goals. “Chelsea’s opener was fortuitous. When Reece James played a pass forward, palace center forward Gary Cahill was the favorite to catch up with Willian. So he wasn’t. Cahill felt a stab of pain in the tendon of the knee and slid down agony, unable even to watch as Willian walked away to cut for Olivier Giroud to finish.
Should Willian have to kick the ball out? No. As far as he knew, Cahill could only have slipped and how silly would he have been then? Willian was in full flight and it only took him a couple of seconds to hit the target. At that type of moment, players are simply not connected to stop.
Zouma blew a header from a corner – a stately defeat – before Chelsea took the lead, Willian joining Giroud to play in Pulisic. The American shot out from Joel Ward and unleashed a vicious blow in the nearby corner.
With the influential Willian who forced Vicente Guaita to escape, it was difficult to see a way back to Palace, yet the home team found one. James’ vulgar turnover followed, but when Patrick van Aanholt nudged a deflected ball square, it was the fierce force of Zaha’s right foot.
The wing looked angry at how the game was going and channeled anger into the 25-yard shot, a celebration of the technique that overtook Arrizabalaga and the roof of the net. The doorman seemed to have it at hand, but there was nothing he could do about it: a bad look for him.
The atmosphere of the game has changed dramatically and Palace has closed the first half on the rise, with Zaha pepped and Benteke heading to Arrizabalaga. Chelsea needed another goal and Giroud would have had to score at the beginning of the second half only to send a free header from James’s crossbar because Palace, particularly through Zaha, seemed capable of hurting them.
What Lampard had to worry about was the ease with which Palace was able to play up to his back. His midfield did not provide sufficient protection. Chelsea’s nerves rang when Zouma had to block Ayew from Jordan after a defensive kick.
Lampard introduced Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Abraham and, almost immediately, the former played in the latter to shoot down and off the far post. The exuberance of this offensive Chelsea team is easy to love. Yet they died when Andreas Christensen was beaten too easily by Van Aanholt and Benteke touched home. The finish line of the grandstand was lit.
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