Tony Pulis will undoubtedly be satisfied with his team's effort at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, but they didn't have quite enough quality to finish off Chelsea. The hosts would have scored more goals if it wasn't for some shaky finishing and some brilliant late saves from Julian Speroni, but they'll take their 2-1 win without complaint.
Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace: Final score 2-1, brilliant Palace effort results in no points
Crystal Palace had some decent chances in the second half and were kept alive by Julian Speroni on multiple occasions, but Chelsea pulled out a deserved win.
Paul Gilham
Chelsea were in control early and found their opener 16 minutes in through Fernando Torres. Willian set the goal up by trying to score, hitting the post with a brilliant shot from the edge of the penalty area. The Palace defense was caught off guard and Torres followed up on the shot, finishing an uncontested chance from the center of the box.
An injury forced Kagisho Dikgacoi out of the game in the 26th minute, but it didn't immediately hinder Palace. They found a stunning equalizer through Marouane Chamakh, who turned in a cross from Joel Ward at the top of the six yard box to pull Palace level after a half-hour.
The visitors' joy didn't last long. Ramires, playing alongside Michael Essien in a rarely seen Premier League partnership, scored his first goal of the season the 35th minute. It was an impressive one, blasted past Speroni from 20 yards at a blistering pace.
Palace had a brilliant chance to score in the 78th minute, but were denied by Petr Cech and John Terry. Stuart O'Keefe saw his initial shot saved by Cech and his follow-up cleared off the line by Terry during a frenetic scramble in front of the Chelsea goal.
Ultimately, Chelsea took control after that scare and were unlucky not to score again. Speroni made a handful of saves in the dying minutes to keep his team in the game -- including three in 10 seconds in the 87th minute -- but Pulis’ side never came close to an equalizer.
Chelsea: Cech, Azpilicueta, Terry, David Luiz, Ivanovic, Essien, Ramires, Hazard, Mata (Oscar 62'), Willian (Schürrle 82'), Torres (Ba 84')
Goals: Torres (16’), Ramires (35’)
Crystal Palace: Speroni, Delaney, Mariappa, Gabbidon, Ward, Bannan (Bolasie 51'), Dikgacoi (O'Keefe 26'), Jedinak, Puncheon, Chamakh (Gayle 88'), Jerome
Goals: Chamakh (29’)
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