The twist in the title race had taken place before the ball was kicked at Stamford Bridge when Manchester City put a ruthless performance to humiliate Arsenal with a 6-3 scoreline at the Etihad. The result left Chelsea with a golden opportunity to close the gap to Arsenal to just two points, an opportunity Jose was desperate to capitalize on.
Chelsea got an early lead courtesy Fernando Torres who pounced on the Willian shot that cannoned of the post. The team however failed to extend the lead and soon Palace equalized through Chamakh around the half hour mark. Going a goal down, Chelsea rallied forward and came up with a stunning response when Ramires finished from the edge of the box with a super strike. There were no further goals in the match, but there was plenty of drama and a lot of tense moments that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats.
A goal mouth scramble between Terry and Cech denied O’Keefe before Ivanovic scrambled the ball away. Chelsea on the other hand had a couple of chances of their own where they really should have extended the lead but nerves combined with excellent goalkeeping by Julian Speroni denied Schurrle and Ba the opportunity.
What We Learned?
Ivanovic’s crossing is a pain for the eyes!
Really not liking Ivanovic at Right Back these days his crossing has been PATHETIC. Might fancy him as a CB partner with Terry and remember the old days? Restore Azpilicueta to his natural RB spot and bring in Bertrand/Cole?
Jose needs to test it out since the current formula is definitely not the answer. Horrific defending.
Our defending at the set pieces continues to be shocking:
Defending the set pieces has been a massive worry for us and even today Palace threatened to score whenever the got the dead ball opportunity and Palace players won headers in dangerous situations. Something that needs to be worked on before we face Arsenal.
Hazard is showing the kind of form we expected of him:
Hazard was absolutely brilliant today, he didn’t score but he was everywhere. His passing, his vision, his defensive work was all top notch and looked like the player who would make the difference. his pass to set up Ramires was quite terrific. We are finally getting to see the type of performances we have expected of him this season and this season looks like the one which will really take Eden to a whole new level. Delightful!
Who doesn’t trust Luiz?
Am i the only one who thinks that Terry is not comfortable with Luiz as his partner at CB? The way he has been defending and marking this season leaves me on the edge of my seat all the time. Great passing ability but really shoddy defending leaves the whole back-line tense and on the edge.
I miss the clean sheets. Will we see a run for Luiz in the midfield anytime soon? Since his defending doesn’t seem to be improving this season.
The gap is down to two, or is it City we need to worry about?
The gap is down to two and we face the leaders next weekend on an away day, but is it Arsenal we need to worry about or the real challenge comes from City? The way the City side has regained form in the last few matches, they certainly look like the team to beat this season.
Up next, Sunderland!
