Premier League: Ziyech scores late as Chelsea beats Crystal Palace 1-0
The win left Chelsea seven points behind second-placed Liverpool which beat Norwich City and 13 points behind league leader Manchester City which plays Tottenham Hotspur later on Saturday.
Published : Feb 19, 2022 23:10 IST
Chelsea snatched a 1-0 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday courtesy of an 89th-minute strike by Moroccan winger Hakim Ziyech as the newly crowned world champion returned to winning ways in the Premier League after nearly a month's absence.
Ziyech kept his eye on a looping cross by substitute Marcos Alonso and calmly side-footed in the volley at the far post to give Chelsea the win that it had looked unlikely to claim for much of the match.
Palace limited the visitors to only a handful of opportunities including a 35-yard pile-driver shot by centre-half Antonio Rudiger in the 11th minute that Vicente Guaita palmed away acrobatically.
READ: Liverpool hits back with 3-1 Premier League win over Norwich
The host had its chances with Wilfried Zaha and Michael Olise coming close to breaking the deadlock as Palace sought to catch the visitors on the counter-attack.
Chelsea, which last weekend won the FIFA World Club Cup and next weekend faces Liverpool in the League Cup final, has struggled to get the best out of record signing Romelu Lukaku and he mostly cut a lonely figure once again.
The win left Chelsea seven points behind second-placed Liverpool which beat Norwich City and 13 points behind league leader Manchester City which plays Tottenham Hotspur later on Saturday. Palace sits in 13th place.