Chelsea secured 3 points in a frantic game at Selhurst Park to bring them closer to automatic qualification for the champions league.
Chelsea saw off Crystal Palace 3-2 at Selhurst Park, but it wasn’t easy as they had to withstand huge late pressure from the Eagles in a breathtaking game.
Controversy surrounded the opening goal as Gary Cahill pulled up with an injury that ended his game, allowing Willian to charge into the box unchallenged and set up Olivier Giroud to score. To be fair, it wasn’t clear that Willian was aware of what had happened.
They made it 2-0 through the excellent Christian Pulisic, and after Zaha clawed one back with an absolute rocket, Tammy Abraham made it 3.
The Chelsea players were still celebrating their 3rd when the crowd were treated to that rarest of treats – a Cristian Benteke goal – it’s been 27 months since that happened at Selhurst Park.
Chelsea are now 5 points clear of Manchester United and theoretically could still snatch second place, if all goes drastically wrong at Man City.
Palace are safe but Roy Hodgson will be keen that his team find a way to stop a four game losing streak.
