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Your support makes all the difference.Chelsea lead the Premier League table by nine points after beating Crystal Palace 1-0 at Selhurst Park on Saturday thanks to a first-half Diego Costa header, with Arsenal and Liverpool not playing until Sunday and Monday respectively, and recorded their 11th consecutive victory. Re-live the action here.
- Chelsea beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at Selhurst Park
- Diego Costa header seals three points for the Blues
- Costa picks up fifth booking of the season and will miss Boxing Day clash with Bournemouth
- N'Golo Kante will also be suspended against Cherries
- Chelsea lead Arsenal and Liverpool by nine points
Follow live coverage on our blog below...
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It’s a big game for…
Cesc Fabregas: Speculation abounds about Fabregas’ future, despite him recently breaking into Antonio Conte’s starting line-up.
After scoring the decisive goal at Sunderland, he’ll hope he can further stake his claim for a regular place.
Best stat…
8: Crystal Palace have not won any of their last eight games against fellow London clubs. In fact, their last derby victory came at Stamford Bridge in August 2015.
Remember when…
John Terry scored an own goal to gift Tony Pulis’ Palace three points and effectively end Chelsea’s 2013/14 title challenge.
Player to watch…
Wilfried Zaha: The winger’s switch of international allegiances from England to Cote d’Ivoire at the end of last month has coincided with a upturn in form.
Alan Pardew has voiced his frustrations at the national team set-up for forgetting about Zaha, but that may have more to do with the possibility of him now travelling to the Africa Cup of Nations in January and missing a month of the domestic season.
Past three-meetings…
Chelsea 1 (Hazard) Crystal Palace 0
Premier League, May 2015
Chelsea 1 (Falcao) Crystal Palace 2 (Sako, Ward)
Premier League, August 2015
Crystal Palace 0 Chelsea 3 (Oscar, Willian, Costa)
Premier League, January 2016
Form guide…
Crystal Palace: LLWDL
Chelsea: WWWWW
Vital information…
Kick-off time: 12.30pm
TV: Live on Sky Sports, highlights on BBC1
28 MINS
Zaha continues to argue with the referee. The home side will be hoping that the 24-year-old does not let his temper get the better of him as he will be crucial to the success of the Palace side.
It's been tight so far, with Palace keeping their shape well and keeping the Chelsea strikers quiet. Both keepers have had little to do so far.
31 MINS
Following a string of clumsy challenges, the referee finally blows his whistle for a Palace free kick. Zaha goes to ground and appears to finally agree with a decision made by the official.
33 MINS
A Chelsea free kick from a dangerous area is delivered short to Konte - but it's a training ground routine that has gone completely wrong here. Within seconds, the midfielder was closed down by a sea of Palace shirts and looses possession. Wasteful.
36 MINS
Alonso gallops through the Palace defence from a counter attack, but Pardew's men sprint back and within seconds there are eight of them back behind the ball. They force an error from the Spaniard as he fails to lay the ball off to Willian.
39 MINS
Alonso takes down Zaha on the edge of the box, to give the home side a free kick in a very dangerous area.
Puncheon goes for goal from the set piece, but it fails to test Courtois. It goes just over the crossbar.
43 MINS
GOAL
CRYSTAL PALACE 0 - 1 CHELSEA
He has done it - one chance, one goal. Hazard finds Azpilicueta, who delivers a ball into the box and finds Costa, who cleverly heads the ball past a helpless Hennessey. It's a technically brilliant finish, but it goes without praise for Azpilicueta's impeccable ball to assist the goal.
HALF TIME
It was a somewhat steady first half for both clubs, but Chelsea head into the interval with a one goal advantage thanks to their man of the moment - Diego Costa. Conte's men still look like they could go up a gear or two, but they done their job in the first half. Pardew's men looked strong at the back, until a clever ball from Azpilicueta created the Chelsea opener. The home side will want more from the likes of Zaha and Benteke next half.
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