On a blustery afternoon in South London, Chelsea thought they had been held, but they finally struck gold to sneak past a spirited Crystal Palace side 1-0 at Selhurst Park.
In their first league game since being crowned world champions, the Blues struggled to break down an organised Eagles defensive unit, that saw Joachim Andersen and Marc Guehi really display their defensive qualities as they marshalled £100 million man Romelu Lukaku out of the game.
Thomas Tuchel’s side were under the cosh themselves at times, with Wilfried Zaha coming close on the stroke of half time having been sent through by a delicious Michael Olise through ball, and the young Frenchman also struck wide of the target in the opening seven minutes as he teased Antonio Rudiger.
The German centre-half tested Vicente Guaita from long range with a fierce, dipping effort that forced the Spaniard to tip the ball around the post, and makeshift left wing-back Malang Sarr saw his outswinging effort swerve wide of the far post.
Patrick Vieira’s hosts had serious threat on the counter: the pace in behind of Olise and Zaha was supplemented by the power and guile of marauding eights Cheikou Kouyate and Jeffrey Schlupp as they sensed vulnerability in the European champions’ defence.
Hakim Ziyech thought he had given the visitors the lead with quarter of an hour to play after he converted a parried Lukaku shot that had rebounded, but VAR came to Palace’s rescue, and Lady Luck smiled down on them to reward the home side’s good play, ruling the Moroccan to have gone too early.
However, the right winger would finally have one that would stand, popping up with 90 seconds of the 90 minutes left to play, converting a Marcos Alonso cross to put a dagger in Palace hearts as it seemed as though their gameplan had worked a treat.
This result will do the Blues a world of good as they build on their Club World Cup success, but Vieira will be bitterly disappointed at this unfortunate result.
TALKING POINT – TACTICAL RESHUFFLES, BUT ONE BEARS FRUIT
We saw both managers shuffling their packs somewhat, with Vieira plumping for more compactness in the engine room with a 4-2-3-1 instead of his 4-3-3, and Thomas Tuchel’s 3-4-3 was fluid enough to transition into a 4-3-3 at times.
Michael Olise was brilliant in the number 10 hole as Zaha was the advanced forward, spearheading the Palace attack with his pace spinning behind Thiago Silva, into the left channel beyond Andreas Christensen, whilst the Dane was more of an auxiliary right-back in possession, with Ziyech, the right wing-back on paper, advanced extremely high, with that move from Tuchel the ultimate game-winner.
Malang Sarr looked uncomfortable on the left of the Chelsea defence, and he was hassled and harried well by Jordan Ayew down the Palace right, but the Ghanaian didn’t have the quality to capitalise on the Frenchman’s nervy display.
Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic were tucked behind lone ranger Lukaku, but both dropped deeper to try and link play as the Palace defence forced them back with aggressive challenges, meaning that the Belgian was stranded in the graveyard shift against two confident central defenders.
MAN OF THE MATCH – MICHAEL OLISE, CRYSTAL PALACE
What a starlet this young man is.
He was central to everything good that Palace did in the attacking phase, and was the vital cog in the system when it came to transitioning from back to front.
He linked well with Zaha, having the vision and accuracy of pass to pick out the Ivorian whenever he peeled off the shoulder of his marker, and he dropped deeper to cover the space vacated by one of his midfield colleagues marauding ahead of him.
A thoroughly professional display from the former Reading man, who did not deserve to be on the losing side today.
PLAYER RATINGS
Palace: Guaita 7, Clyne 6, Andersen 7, Guehi 7, Mitchell 7, McArthur 6, Kouyate 6, Schlupp 6, Olise 8, Ayew 6, Zaha 7, Butland 6, Eze 6, Mateta 6.
Chelsea: Mendy 6, Christensen 6, Silva 7, Rudiger 6, Sarr 5, Pulisic 6, Jorginho 6, Kante 7, Ziyech 7, Havertz 6, Lukaku 5, L-Cheek 6, Kovacic 7, Alonso 6.
KEY MOMENTS
7′: CLOSE! A great track back and clearance from Schlupp that releases Zaha down the left, and the Ivorian has the patience and vision to pick out Olise to the right, and he teases Rudiger before firing just wide of the far post!
11′: CLOSE! What an effort from Rudiger who fizzes one from distance, and it dips right at the last, forcing Guaita into a strong right-handed save! Corner, Chelsea, Ziyech over the inswinger.
45′: SO CLOSE! What a chance for Palace, as they break through Olise, and it’s a lovely weight of pass to Zaha as the Ivorian looks to pass into the far corner, but it’s just wide!
75′: GOALLL!!! They finally make the breakthrough, Chelsea! Lukaku’s first real effort after a lovely Kovacic ball is parried by Butland, and Ziyech follows in to convert the rebound! // NO GOAL! It’s been disallowed! Ziyech went too early and was offside!
89′: GOALLLL!!!! They’ve broken through at the death, and it’s Ziyech with one that will count, popping up at the far post to convert the Alonso cross.
