This result must have felt like a punch in the gut for Roy Hodgson. In his 200th game as a manager, Crystal Palace ended their 13th consecutive defeat against Chelsea, who took the lead with Conor Gallagher’s brace and Jefferson Lerma’s first goal for the club.
It was the cruellest blow for a coach who has already suffered a lot this season, with injuries and a team struggling with just two wins in their last 14 games. But it was an incredible turnaround for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, who sealed the points with Enzo Fernandes’ third goal in stoppage time after a first half that saw Chelsea rise to new heights. Ta. But it was Gallagher, who scored eight goals during his loan spell at Palace and has now played in four of the six matches against Palace, who sparked a comeback that has once again put Hodgson’s position in jeopardy.
Hodgson described Palace’s current predicament as “the toughest period of my career for one reason: the fans are so hostile to us”. So a series of banners held up by home supporters at the team’s kick-off, one of which took aim at “weak club culture and direction”, were not exactly what he needed.
The main criticism of Matheus França, 76, has been his unwillingness to give opportunities to Palace’s young players, but did he feel he had nothing to lose with the absence of Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze? , Matthäus França was finally given his first Premier League starting 6 spot. A few months after his arrival. In contrast, Pochettino has no problem developing players, but could certainly do with a little more stability in his squad. Gallagher returns to the ground where he enjoyed a hugely successful loan spell two seasons ago, while Nicholas Jackson takes over on the left wing, opting to start Cole Palmer as a false No.9.
It didn’t look like it would make much of a difference to Chelsea’s explosive attack on a cold night in south London, with neither team looking likely to be able to raise the temperature. Thirteen of Palace’s 26 league goals this season have been scored or produced by Eze or Oliseh, but 20-year-old Adam Wharton was given his first full start after joining from Blackburn, with Jean-Philippe Mateta He showed his ability by collecting a ball that almost scored a goal. . The Frenchman should have done better when he took the ball from Axel Disasi from a Chelsea throw-in, but could only fire a shot directly at Djordje Petrovic.
If the game needed improvement, this was it, and Lerma officially obliged. Tyrick Mitchell’s resilience made it all possible after a superb double tackle from Noni Madueke and Moises Caicedo. However, Chelsea were angered by Lerma’s foul on the Ecuadorian midfielder, who smashed the ball into goal from 25 yards remaining. Selhurst Park sparked a rare moment of celebration against their London rivals after defeats dating back to October 2017 when Wilfried Zaha’s winning goal won them 2-1.
Of course he’s been gone for a long time these days, but it was Palace who continued to pose an even greater threat to Pochettino, who was deflated by seeing his team produce nothing despite their repair. By half-time, they had around 80% possession and had just one shot, which Gallagher missed. The result could have been even worse for Chelsea had referee Michael Oliver given an unfavorable call after Thiago Silva appeared to push Daniel Munoz inside the area.
During a delay in the start of the second half due to Oliver’s technical issues, fans from both groups attended a rendition of Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.” This seemed to energize the Chelsea players as within 90 seconds Gallagher leveled the score by tapping in Maro Gusto’s cross and suddenly everything was back to normal. In a sense.
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Bringing on substitute Christopher Nkunku at half-time, Chelsea showed new attacking purpose, with Palmer curling Gusto’s cross wide of the goal. Mateta fired a shot from a through ball from França, but it was blocked by Silva, who made a late charge from the veteran Brazilian, marking the end of his work for the night.
Petrovic had to watch out for França’s shot from outside the area near the post in one of his few late chances, but Palmer was unable to beat Dean Henderson without an angle after a great exchange with Gusto. . Mateta was denied a penalty after going down under a challenge from Levi Colwill in the closing stages, but Gallagher scored a hammer blow in the first minute of stoppage time and Fernandes also sent a solid finish to send Chelsea’s jubilant fans into the night.
