OK, this blog is done. We’ll have a match report up shortly, so check back for that. Thanks for reading!
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All the rest of today’s scores are here:
There shouldn’t be too much to concern Antonio Conte, certainly not in attack. Chelsea played some excellent football, enjoyed 73% of possession and created numerous chances, but they didn’t get the rub of the green, and Wayne Hennessey had a great game. Palace played a really good counter-attacking game, though, and Wilfried Zaha was excellent on the break. All in all, a very enjoyable match, and well done for Palace for a really impressive victory.
What a game. Chelsea threw everything but the kitchen sink at Palace in that second half, but the visitors clung on, and they come away from Stamford Bridge with victory for the second successive season. Palace were a bit lucky, but they scored two good goals in the first half, and Chelsea just couldn’t force the ball in in that second half. Chelsea didn’t play badly – on the contrary, they were great – but, for Conte and his team, it was just one of those days.
What it all means is that, following Tottenham’s win at Burnley, Chelsea’s lead has been cut to seven points. Palace stay 16th, but cut the gap on Burnley to a point.
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Full-time: Chelsea 1-2 Crystal Palace
Palace win!
90 min + 10 Hennessey punches clear, and the whistle goes for a Chelsea offside. We’ve played 100 minutes.
90 min +9 Final Chelsea free kick and Courtois is up!
90 min +8 Intense Chelsea pressure, but Pedro is offside! That must be that.
90 min +7 Loftus-Cheek replaces Fabregas. What a peculiar substitution in the 97th minute.
90 min +6 Willian crosses from the right, but it bobbles off Azpilicueta and it’s a Palace goal kick. Sakho goes down again, and this is annoying.
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90 min +5 Zaha shoots over from 15 yards! That was a chance to wrap it up. Still time for Chelsea.
90 min +4 Batshuayi fouls Milivojevic, and Palace, understandably, take their sweet time with the free kick.
90 min +3 Chelsea take it short, it comes all the way back to Azpilicueta, and the Spaniard picks out Hennessey.
90 min +2 Sakho is back on, naturally. Chelsea come again, and Batshuayi forces a corner.
90 min +1 Sakho goes down, takes an age to go off the pitch, and a minute is wasted.
89 min Fabregas floats it in to Costa, but Costa can’t keep his header down. Seven minutes of stoppage time!
88 min Zaha buys a cheap free kick off Fabregas. There should be a decent amount of stoppage time after that earlier injury to Scott Dann.
87 min Milivojevic fouls Kante. Played in by Fabregas, but David Luiz heads it over. Groans from the home fans.
85 min Palace can see the finish line. They’ve ridden their luck, but they’ve put so much effort in. Chelsea still pouring forward.
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84 min Hennessey saves with his legs from Fabregas! Chelsea putting everything into this.
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83 min Chelsea have got into some great positions, but they just haven’t found that final pass. Another corner, taken by Willian, but Benteke heads clear.
82 min David Luiz is yellow-carded for a foul on Benteke, and then gives Craig Pawson a volley of abuse. A dumb foul, and a dumber reaction.
80 min An almighty scramble in the six-yard box, but it just won’t fall for Chelsea! Palace hack it clear. Now Willian puts in a fabulous ball from the right side, but no one is there to tap it home! Such a fine cross. Pippo Inzaghi would have gobbled that up.
79 min Chelsea pushing really high now. More great attacking play from the hosts, instigated by Fabregas, and Sakho makes a crucial interception to stop Batshuayi scoring. Corner to Chelsea, but it’s wasted.
77 min Cahill is booked for a late foul on Zaha by the touchline. That was cynical in the extreme: if Zaha hadn’t been hacked, he’d have been in the clear.
75 min Costa heads wide from seven yards! Hazard beat his man on the left touchline, stood it up, but Costa got his header wrong. If it was on target, he’d have scored.
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74 min Willian curls it over the bar. It never looked like beating Hennessey. Second change from Conte: Alonso is withdrawn, and Michy Batshuayi is on.
73 min Milivojevic is cautioned for his 400th foul of the afternoon. Chelsea free kick 30 yards out.
72 min Cabaye lifts it in, Delaney nods it back, and Benteke places it over the bar! He was under pressure from two Chelsea defenders, but he might have hit the target.
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71 min Now a free kick for Palace on the left corner of the penalty box. Cabaye stands over it.
70 min Chelsea have seen lots of the ball, but each time they look to fashion something, there’s a vast wall of yellow in the Palace penalty box. Azpilicueta escapes a booking for pulling Zaha back.
69 min Time’s ticking for Chelsea! Just over 20 minutes to find an equaliser – and perhaps a winner.
67 min Cabaye whips it in from the flank, no one went for it, and it wasn’t too far away from Courtois’ far post. A few seconds later, Benteke receives a caution for a trip.
66 min David Luiz brings down Zaha 40 yards from goal, and some welcome respite for Palace.
64 min Chelsea are parked in Palace’s half. But as Zaha just showed, Palace are still a threat on the break.
61 min Brilliant save from Courtois! Palace counter-attacked, and suddenly Zaha was clear … but Courtois stuck out a leg and diverted it past the post! Excellent goalkeeping: Zaha’s left-foot shot was sneaking inside the far post. Courtois has just kept Chelsea in this.
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57 min The stretcher is on, and Dann can’t continue. I hope he’s OK, but it doesn’t look good. Damien Delaney is on in his place. And a change for Chelsea: Willian replaces Matic. And here’s another change for Palace: Kelly is on for Townsend. That’s all three changes made by Sam Allardyce.
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55 min Pedro’s cross finds Diego Costa in the box, and he brings it down instead of heading it at goal, but the extra touch allowed Dann to get in a crucial block. Actually, this looks nasty: I think Dann has jolted his knee.
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53 min Pedro picks it up in the centre circle, and chooses to release Diego Costa when he might have released Hazard the other way. Costa doesn’t quite have the pace to get away from the Palace defence, and the visitors get back to recover.
51 min A lovely ball in from Alonso, and Fabregas is all alone in the penalty area, but he tries to nod it back for a team-mate instead of going for goal, and the chance is lost. Chelsea building some pressure here, though.
49 min Hazard takes on Sakho and clips it to the back post, but Diego Costa can’t quite get his header right, and it loops through to Hennessey. A few seconds later, Costa is a fraction late on Sakho, and is booked. He’s really unlucky there, Costa – it wasn’t that bad a tackle, and Milivojevic made three challenges in the first half that were worse.
48 min A slower start to the second half, but that’s understandable. That first 45 was one of the best halves I’ve seen this season.
Here’s Matt Pearce: “Wayne Hennessey is having one of his best games in a Palace shirt. Zaha absolutely electric – who said what about 100% passion?”
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46 min Welcome back. Ready for more? Palace have made one change at half-time: James Tomkins, who presumably has a knock, has been replaced by Scott Dann.
That was terrific. Chelsea trail, but they’ve been really good, and Palace deserve huge credit for hanging on to their lead. When Cesc Fabregas opened the scoring it looked like a long afternoon for the visitors, but they hit back with two goals in 90 seconds, and have defended doggedly ever since. Chelsea have had nearly all the ball and nearly all the chances, but Palace have the crucial lead. Join me in 15 for more of the same.
Half-time: Chelsea 1-2 Crystal Palace
The whistle blows, and an extremely entertaining half of football comes to an end.
45 min Milivojevic with another trip. Fabregas lifts it in, Matic heads towards goal, Hennessey tips it over. Hazard’s subsequent corner is surprisingly ordinary. Two minutes of stoppage time.
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44 min More Chelsea pressure. Pedro wins a corner, but the hosts can’t quite make it count.
42 min Azpilicueta thrashes one over the bar.
41 min Palace counter-attack, and force a corner, which is welcome after a period of stress. Tomkins gets free at the back post, but his header loops up and over the bar. He might have done better with that, actually.
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39 min Chelsea are really building some pressure now, and Hazard is at the centre of it. Matic drills one with his right foot, and Hennessey spills it, but Diego Costa just couldn’t gobble up the rebound. Chelsea’s response since going behind has been excellent.
38 min Alonso’s ball goes right across the six-yard box, but no one from Chelsea was there to put it in! Great cross from the Spaniard; unfortunately it didn’t get its reward. Now Hazard tests Hennessey! Tipped behind by the Palace keeper.
36 min More high quality stuff from Hazard on the left side. He gets away from defenders so well, doesn’t he? Almost as though the ball’s stuck to his feet. Chelsea are knocking on the door, so to speak.
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34 min Chelsea have had the lion’s share of possession, and the game’s being played mainly in Palace’s half, but Palace are holding up well.
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32 min David Luiz takes it, in that distinctive side-footed style of his, but it’s straight at Hennessey.
31 min Puncheon is late on Diego Costa, and Chelsea have a free kick 30 yards from goal.
29 min Milivojevic hacks Hazard, and that should be a booking, really, especially since it’s his second late foul. But no card.
26 min Chelsea give it away 30 yards from goal, and Puncheon shoots wide. Sloppy play in defence from the hosts, not for the first time. Chelsea’s attacking play has been really slick, but their defending hasn’t.
23 min Now Jeff Schlupp, at the other end, shoots well wide. That was an opening. Just on that Diego Costa chance, he actually slipped as he hit it, and maybe didn’t get the connection he would have liked. But Hennessey did really well to move his feet and make himself big.
22 min What a save from Hennessey! Diego Costa seemed certain to score as he swivelled, eight yards out, and hit it on the turn, but Hennessey showed superb reflexes to keep it out! Wonderful passing preceded it, with Fabregas pulling the strings.
21 min Townsend fouls Pedro on the right touchline. Played in from the set piece, and Cahill got free, but he couldn’t quite get the connection. Palace’s marking wasn’t too hot just then. Rest assured, there’ll be more goals in this game.
19 min This game has got it all. It’s been a terrific start.
17 min Oh, that should have been a penalty for Chelsea. The corner was played low, and Pedro fired it at goal – it was blocked by Townsend four yards out, but he clearly used his arm! Chelsea’s players cried for a penalty – they all went up in unison – but Craig Pawson shook his head. It should have been given, though – Townsend moved his arm to stop it. A bit of luck for Palace.
16 min Good turn from Pedro, and his ball in is headed behind by Sakho. Chelsea’s big lugs come up from the back.
14 min There were 90 seconds between those two Palace goals. What a turnaround! And more power to Palace after that terrible start. A tremendous riposte.
12 min It’s all happening here! Palace broke with Benteke, and Chelsea were at sixes and sevens. Benteke ran through the defence and got a lucky ricochet, but it fell to Zaha, and he prodded it into Benteke’s path … who finished beautifully, dinking the ball over Courtois as the Chelsea keeper came out. A lovely calm finish, but what’s going on in the Chelsea defence?! This game suddenly got extremely interesting.
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GOAL! Chelsea 1-2 Crystal Palace (Benteke 11)
Amazing! Palace lead!
10 min Well! Pedro got back to help out David Luiz, but his clearance wasn’t the best, and Palace picked it up in central midfield. It got played back in to the box, Zaha sniffed a yard of space, and drove a shot past Courtois from 12 yards!
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GOAL! Chelsea 1-1 Crystal Palace (Zaha 9)
Ha! How about that?!
8 min Townsend goes past David Luiz on the left side, but Pedro is quickly back to help out.
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6 min That was much too easy for Chelsea. Fabregas began the move with a lovely long pass for Hazard, but Ward didn’t do enough to stop him, and the two centre-backs went MIA as Fabregas sauntered into the area. Palace have it all to do.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Crystal Palace (Fabregas 5)
Well, that didn’t take long! Hazard completely befuddled Ward on the left side, rolled it across the box, and Fabregas had the freedom of Stamford Bridge to clip it past Hennessey from six yards.
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4 min Alonso tries to bend it with his left foot, but it’s straight down Hennessey’s throat. Fabregas, incidentally, has started in an advanced position, with Pedro occupying Moses’s usual role on the right.
3 min Milivojevic is late on Fabregas 30 yards from goal. No card for the Serb, but a good shooting chance for Chelsea.
Peep peep!
1 min And we’re away. Chelsea are in blue shirts, blue shorts and white socks, and Palace are in garish yellow with that red and blue diagonal sash. Palace force an early corner, but Chelsea eventually blam it clear.
We’re just a couple of minutes way from kick-off, and Chelsea have just paid tribute to their former goalkeeper John Phillips, who has died aged 65. He made 149 appearances for the Blues, and won four caps for Wales.
Some pre-match reading: I know this is from a week ago, but it’s really good. Barney Ronay on why Eden Hazard is brilliant, and why the cult of Kanté has become a kind of vanity in itself:
And you can keep up to date with all the goings-on in England and Europe with Barry Glendenning here:
Liverpool have beaten Everton 3-1. A good day for the Reds, in particular Coutinho and Mané, but not so good for the Toffees and their non-diving goalkeeper. More details here:
No Victor Moses for Chelsea today – he’s unfit – but Courtois, Hazard and Diego Costa all play. Palace are without Patrick van Aanholt, and James McArthur and Frazier Campbell are also unavailable. Benteke, Townsend and Zaha play in the Eagles’ attack.
Today's teams
Chelsea: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill, Pedro, Kante, Matic, Alonso, Fabregas, Costa, Hazard. Subs: Begovic, Zouma, Loftus-Cheek, Willian, Batshuayi, Terry, Chalobah.
Crystal Palace: Hennessey, Ward, Tomkins, Sakho, Schlupp, Cabaye, Milivojevic, Zaha, Puncheon, Townsend, Christian Benteke. Subs: Speroni, Dann, Ledley, KaiKai, Sako, Delaney, Kelly.
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)
Chelsea are going to win the league, and at the end of today they could be 13 points clear at the top. Conte’s side have won 12 of their 13 home games this season, have a good record at home against Palace, and should have too much quality for the visitors. But Palace are on the up, have won their past three matches, and Wilfried Zaha scored an absolute belter for Ivory Coast in midweek. Chelsea should win, but it could be tighter than we might think. Plenty to look out for, and we get going in about 35 minutes.
Tim will be here shortly. In the meantime, read about Cesar Azpilicueta’s love affair with Chelsea:
So good have Azpilicueta’s performances been that his name has spun round the rumour mill – linked to Barcelona, no less. “Right now I am only thinking about Chelsea and I feel loved here. I’ve been here five years now and I extended my contract not long ago,” he says.
“It’s flattering to be linked to Barcelona: it means you’re playing well. I wasn’t hearing those sort of stories last season. That’s a consequence of us being top of the Premier League, things are going well.
“My objective since I arrived was to grow as a player and a person. I’ve adapted to the city, to the country. I feel settled, I’m comfortable with the language, my family is very happy. Right now my only objective is to continue with Chelsea.”
