Crystal Palace vs Chelsea LIVE: Premier League result and reaction as Conor Gallagher shines against old club
Crystal Palace 1-3 Chelsea: The Blues left it late to secure the points and move back into the top 10
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Your support makes all the difference.Chelsea moved back into the top half of the Premier League with an unconvincing but productive display against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Though they dominated most of possession in the first half, Chelsea couldn’t create opportunites on goal and looked bereft of ideas in the final third. Crystal Palace grew into the match and took the lead through a wonder strike from Jefferson Lerma who sent a rocket past Dorde Petrovic to score his first goal for the Eagles.
After the break Conor Gallagher, who took Chelsea’s only shot in the opening 45 minutes, slotted home an equaliser from Malo Gusto’s pull back to give the visitors some hope.
Things begin to slow down and the match looked to be heading for a draw until Raheem Sterling release Cole Palmer on the counter attack. He picked out Gallagher on the edge of the box and the former Palace midfielder sank a low finish to break the hearts of his old club. With the match gone, Palace conceded again a few minutes later thanks to a fine finish from Enzo Fernandez.
Relive the action from Selhurst Park plus get the latest odds and tips right here:
Pochettino on belief gained after Villa win
Last time out Chelsea defeated Aston Villa 3-1 in the FA Cup fourth-round replay and manager Mauricio Pochettino believes that the victory will instill a new belief in this team that they can go out and perform to their best levels.
“I am very pleased, first of all because the players were fantastic,” said the Blues head coach. “They played very well, were free and enjoyed the game - which is important because football should be about joy - against a team that is doing a fantastic job, that is so difficult to beat here. They are full of confidence in the top four.
“That is why I am really pleased with the performance because I think it will provide us the capacity to really believe that if we all fight together and approach games the way we approached the game today we are capable of performing in this way.
“I think it was one of the best performances of the season, we played well against a very difficult team. Aston Villa is doing a fantastic job and are opposition who are in the top four and are the second best team playing at home.
“That is why it was really difficult but we are so pleased with the performance. I think the players believed and the way we played was fantastic, so we need to say congratulations to the players.”
Mauricio Pochettino rejects claims he said Chelsea players ‘are not good enough’
Mauricio Pochettino has rejected suggestions he said Chelsea’s players are not good enough, claiming his words following Sunday’s defeat by Wolves were taken out of context.
Immediately after the 4-2 loss at Stamford Bridge that left his team in the bottom half of the Premier League table, the Argentinian appeared to say he did not have the squad to significantly remedy the club’s plight.
Chelsea were booed off at half-time and again at the final whistle, with audible anger directed against both the players and Pochettino personally, while the name of former owner Roman Abramovich could also be heard being sung.
Mauricio Pochettino rejects claims he said Chelsea players ‘are not good enough’
The Argentinian appeared to say he did not have the squad to significantly remedy the club’s plight.
Hodgson backing young players to perform
Roy Hodgson says young Academy players like David Ozoh, Naouirou Ahamada and Matheus França, must step up to the plate in the absence of Palace’s main stars.
“Our squad is getting so much smaller and they play in the area where we are missing players,” said the Eagles boss. “Both [Ahamada and França] have benefitted from time [here].
“They understand more what we are trying to do and their game is constantly improving. Now for them, when they get a chance, they have to really grasp that.
“França has had more chances than Ahamada in actual fact, but when they have come on in recent games they have been sharp, they have been lively and they have shown they understand what we are trying to do.
“There is no reason to suggest that they are not getting closer to the team.”
Guehi could return quickly
With Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze out of action with hamstring injuries Crystal Palace’s season could be on the brink of collapsing under them.
A glimmer of good news comes for Marc Guehi who Roy Hodgson believes will be back unp-and-running in no time.
“Marc Guéhi has jarred his knee,” he said. “Guéhi is just a question of time until that jarring passes and he gets full flexibility in his knee, so it doesn’t necessarily need to be a particularly long injury.”
‘Incredible bad luck’ playing its part in Palace’s injuries
Roy Hodgson says the severity and number of Crystal Palace’s injuries has proved ‘incredible bad luck’, as his side prepare to take on Chelsea at Selhurst Park.
A number of key players are missing for the match but the manager claims that will provide an opportunity for younger players to step up and fill the void.
Michael Olise, Marc Guéhi and Eberechi Eze are all absent what Hodgson called ‘a massive blow’.
“We have lost all three of them, there is no question that it is a massive blow,” Hodgson confirmed at his pre-match press conference. “In particular after the Sheffield United game, when we were really thinking we were going to be OK now we have got these guys back, and just the opposite has occurred.
“Furthermore Michael has picked up another serious injury which is absolutely devastating for him, for the club, for everyone really. Strangely enough, it was one of those situations where so many things went wrong that could have gone right, but we don’t have hindsight.
“It was the perfect storm in every respect, but injuries do happen. That is the bottom line. They happened in this game, and now we are trying to seek reasons why exactly could it have happened when it happened, but it could have happened at any time. There is no question of that. He could have come on for five minutes and done that, he could have not come on at all and then done it in the first training session here.
“For me, it’s another element of incredible bad luck we have suffered recently. To lose those two and Marc Guéhi in the same period of time, and add to that [Cheick] Doucouré that we’ve had to come to terms with, that is four of the players most important to the club and the team last season we don’t have anymore.
“What do we do? We make sure we get on with it, we make certain we do our best to prepare the team that are there to play, and you hope that some of them are going to come up and show elements of their play that we haven’t seen because they haven’t been given the chance up to now.”
Mauricio Pochettino insists he won’t be losing his hair over Chelsea’s poor form
Mauricio Pochettino has called for perspective on the struggles of his Chelsea fc team, insisting “I cannot lose my hair” over recent poor results.
Sunday’s 4-2 loss at home to Wolves was the 10th in the league since the 51-year-old arrived in the summer and triggered the first audible signs of discontent from fans towards the manager.
Afterwards Pochettino appeared to suggest he believed the players were not good enough to arrest the club’s slide, though he has since clarified he was referring only to the performance in the defeat to Gary O’Neil’s side.
Hair loss, stock exchanges and farms – Mauricio Pochettino on Chelsea struggles
Sunday’s 4-2 loss at home to Wolves was their 10th in the league this season.
Crystal Palace vs Chelsea
Following their dominant win over Aston Villa in the FA Cup fourth round, Chelsea have regained some confidence and look threatening in front of goal.
Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping to build up some momentum ahead of the Carabao Cup final and should let his team off the leash against an underperforming Crystal Palace.
Crystal Palace 0-4 Chelsea.
Crystal Palace vs Chelsea early team news and predicted line-ups
Crystal Palace will be without both of their star forwards, with Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise sidelined with hamsting injuries, as well as England international Marc Guehi.
Chelsea are likely to be without Levi Colwill and Benoit Badiashile, so Thiago Silva is likely to return to the back-four. Reece James remains out but Christopher Nkunku and Raheem Sterling could return to the starting line-up.
Predicted line-ups
Crystal Palace XI: Henderson; Richards, Andersen, Tomkins, Mitchell; Lerma, Hughes, Wharton; Ayew, Mateta, Schlupp
Chelsea XI: Petkovic; Gusto, Disasi, Silva, Chilwell; Caicedo, Fernandez, Gallagher; Palmer, Nkunku, Sterling
How to watch Crystal Palace vs Chelsea
The match will kick off at 8pm GMT on Monday 12th February at Selhurst Park, London.
It will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event and Premier League, with coverage starting from 6:30pm.
If you’re not a Sky customer you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass here to watch without a subscription.
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Crystal Palace vs Chelsea
Good evening and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s Premier League action as Crystal Palace host Chelsea at Selhurst Park.
Both teams enter the match in the bottom half of the table and in need of a win. Chelsea have lost their last two league fixtures which has seen the pressure mount on boss Mauricio Pochettino.
In comparison, Crystal Palace secured a 3-2 win over Sheffield United at the end of January before being heavily beaten 4-1 by Brighton last time out.
We’ll have all the updates, team news and live action throughout the evening so stick with us as we build up to kick off at 8pm.
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