It was a fairly high tempo yet ultimately quite low quality first half at Selhurst Park, with very few chances at either end, but with Chelsea taking a 1-0 lead into the break thanks to an individual effort from Estêvão, who seized upon an errant backpass to run at goal from the halfway line, hold off a defender, and beat the goalkeeper with a well timed shot.
The youngster almost repeated the trick just a few minutes later, countering off a Palace corner, but this time, from a tighter angle, he put his shot wide of target.
Prior to that, Palace wasted a couple chances, one thanks to an excellent save by Robert Sánchez, while Enzo Fernández also hammered a shot on the turn over the bar. But otherwise it was largely a game of Chelsea possession against Palace pressure, with plenty of errant passes from both teams, and not much to talk about other than maybe a harsh yellow card for Moisés Caicedo.
Chelsea began the second half with great verve and a bit more quality, and João Pedro made that count to double our lead within just a few minutes of the restart.
Like Estêvão, JP then had a chance soon after to score a second, but failed to find the empty net. JP claimed that his shot was blocked by a hand, and though the referee disagreed initially, VAR flagged for review and the penalty would be eventually given. Enzo made no mistake.
There were still nearly 30 minutes left at that point, but the game was effectively over already. Adam Wharton would get sent off on 72 minutes for two yellow cards in quick succession just to compound Palace’s misery.
Chelsea relaxed a bit too much at that point and Palace got a consolation to ruin the clean sheet, but thankfully nothing more came of that despite the nine (9!) minutes of added-on time.
* Cole Palmer not passed fit; Rosenior hopeful of having him available for midweek
* Rough day for young Canvot of Palace, giving away the ball for the Estêvão goal and then getting called for the handball — which was a ridiculous call, especially with VAR saying that it was accidental but apparently still worthy of a penalty?!
* Enzo & JP now both on 9 goals in all competitions to lead the team; Estêvão up to 6 goals
* Four wins in Rosenior’s first five games
* Chelsea now unbeaten in 17 straight against Palace, the longest active streak against any opposition
* The win moves us back into the top-four, ahead of both Liverpool and Manchester United; United play Arsenal in a few minutes
* Next up: Napoli away on Wednesday, a place in the top-eight of the league phase on the line
* KTBFFH
See More:
* [Chelsea FC: Premier League](/premier-league)