Chelsea moves up to second as Abraham, Pulisic sink Crystal Palace

Chelsea is up to second in the Premier League, having played a game more than Manchester City, after a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.

Published : Nov 09, 2019 20:30 IST

Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham
Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham
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Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham

Tammy Abraham scored his 10th Premier League goal for Chelsea as it secured a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

The 22-year-old striker became the youngest Blues player to reach double figures in the Premier League since Arjen Robben when he swept home following a clever Willian pass.

Chelsea had found clear-cut chances hard to come by against a stubborn Palace side, whose manager Roy Hodgson was taking charge of his 300th game in England's top flight.

Abraham's cool finish broke the deadlock, though, before a simple header from Christian Pulisic made certain of a sixth league win in a row for Frank Lampard's side.

 

Chelsea, whose starting line-up was its youngest in Premier League history at an average age of 24 years and 88 days, certainly started the more exuberantly of the teams and could have gone ahead when Pulisic was denied by Vicente Guaita after turning past Joel Ward.

Palace was not offering much of an attacking threat, but it did seem to have the Chelsea forward line under increasing control, although only a brilliant block from Gary Cahill stopped former team-mate Willian turning the ball in with seconds of the first half left.

Palace's resistance was broken seven minutes after the restart, though, Abraham slotting confidently past Guaita after being played through by a fine reverse pass from Willian.

Pulisic was then denied by a flying save from Guaita, but the visitor spurned a great chance to level when James Tomkins nodded wide from just seven yards out.

It proved a costly miss as, with 11 minutes to go, Pulisic nodded the ball past Guaita for his first goal at Stamford Bridge after Michy Batshuayi's shot was blocked.

 

Willian still holds the key for Chelsea

Much has rightly been made of youngsters Abraham, Mason Mount and latterly Pulisic, but it is hard to dispute that Willian remains Chelsea's most important attacking player.

The Brazil international, captain for the day, created four goalscoring chances – including his assist - and completed 95 per cent of his passes.

Zaha sums up toothless Palace

Palace is a disciplined side but goalscoring remains a concern. It offered almost nothing in attack against Chelsea, with Wilfried Zaha generally unable to influence matters going forward, creating one chance and having no attempts on goal.

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