Chelsea’s win over Crystal Palace on Sunday was a pretty efficient performance from the Blues. Unspectacular in the first half, they struck with a goal late in the first half and another at the start of the second to break Palace’s resolve.
One Blue steps up with great rating for his stats
Premier League team of the week for Gameweek 23 has one Chelsea player in it.
Premier League team of the week for Game-week 23 has one Chelsea player in it.
Most Chelsea fans would have had Estevao as their man of the match, as he made such decisive actions in effecting the game. But stats site WhoScored picked a different player.
To be fair to Joao Pedro, he was very good too. With a goal and an assist (for winning the penalty which Enzo Fernandez scored late), the striker had his most effective performance for a long time. He got two shots away, both on target, made a key pass and won 3 aerial duels in the game.
All too often we see him drifting up top not really affecting games. Sunday was the opposite – he got involved, occupied centre backs and generally made a nuisance of himself. We’ve generally been in favour of Liam Delap as our starter recently, but we could be persuaded otherwise if JP keeps playing like this.
It will be very interesting to see who gets the start up front tomorrow night in Naples.
In other news…
Chelsea face a really tough test away in Italy tomorrow night – but they do have some advantages coming into the game. Napoli are missing so many players injured, and the Blues should be at close to full strength. We will find out more when Liam Rosenior takes his press conference tonight.
Aaron Anselmino has been recalled by Chelsea, with nobody yet quite sure what that means for his future. He was in tears at his departure from Dortmund,
More Stories about Joao Pedro
Joao Pedro speaks to the TV cameras about his goal against Palace.
Joao Pedro in Chelsea training.
Joao Pedro slams in a left footed shot.