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Football London
Football London
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Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Chelsea news: Brilliant Willian moment, James silences Zaha and big Premier League title claim

Chelsea have consolidated their place in the top four of the Premier League thanks to a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.

The Blues went into the game on the back of an entertaining 4-4 draw against Ajax in the Champions League on Tuesday night and were facing an Eagles side which had garnered positive results against Manchester United and Arsenal on the road this season.

It proved to be a low-key London derby, and the hosts deserved all three points.

The west London outfit have a fortnight to celebrate this latest win as it's the international break next week.

And it's the small matter of a trip to the reigning champions of England Manchester City when they return to Premier League action and the Blues could be ahead in the table depending on the result at Anfield this afternoon.

With that said, here's all the news from around Stamford Bridge over the past 24 hours.

Player ratings vs Crystal Palace

Chelsea's hope of a top-four finish - or better yet challenging for the Premier League title - this season remains in tact thanks to a clinical second half display against the Eagles.

Tammy Abraham broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute with his 10th league goal of the campaign and Christian Pulisic continued his brilliant run of form with the clincher 11 minutes from time.

There was also a standout showing from Mateo Kovacic, while Reece James kept Wilfried Zaha quiet.

But how did the rest of the team fare on at Stamford Bridge?

Click here to find out how football.london rated the players against Crystal Palace.

Lampard transcript

Frank Lampard faced the media following the Crystal Palace game and two of the big talking points from his press conference were the performances of Tammy Abraham and Christian Pulisic.

Furthermore, moving into second place (ahead of the Leicester vs Arsenal and Liverpool vs Man City games) prompted talk of challenging for the Premier League title.

But the Blues head coach was happy to focus on his side making it six Premier League wins in row.

"It is hard to measure the expectations. At the moment the players are sustaining, they deserve to be at this level. It is still a snapshot of the long term future."

Full transcript.

Willian assist

Abraham gave the Blues the lead against Crystal Palace with a simple finish for his 10th Premier League goal of the season.

But much of the credit must go to Willian.

The Brazil international - who captained Chelsea in the absence of Cesar Azpilicueta and Jorginho - provided the final pass to put Abraham through on goal.

It was certainly a brilliant piece of play from the captain for the afternoon and fans were delighted with his assist.

Click here to read the best reactions.

Frank Lampard proud of Chelsea's England stars

Joe Cole claim

Chelsea are "in amongst it" in terms of this season's Premier League race.

That's the view of Joe Cole.

"I think they're quietly chipping away at it," Cole told BT Sport after the full-time whistle at Stamford Bridge.

"Frank won't thank us for this, I think he'd like to be even more quiet about it. Going into these two weeks now, he'll really take stock, reflect on how well Chelsea have started and they're in amongst it.

The Premier League Trophy ((Michael Regan/Getty Images))

"I don't think the gaffer will thank me for this because you like to be the quiet ones coming from the outside in the title race. What I'm saying is you can't find too many faults in this Chelsea team."

Full story.

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