Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Giuseppe Muro

Crystal Palace 1-4 Chelsea: Christian Pulisic scores twice as brilliant Blues move back into top four

Christian Pulisic scored twice as Chelsea produced a brilliant performance to move back into the top four with a comfortable win over Crystal Palace.

After losing 5-2 to West Brom last weekend, Chelsea sent out a statement to their rivals in the race for Champions League qualification with one of their best displays in months.

Kai Havertz put the Blues ahead with a class finish after eight minutes and they never looked back.

Pulisic fired home a second from close two minutes later and it was 3-0 before half-time when Kurt Zouma powered home a header from a Mason Mount free-kick.

Palace pulled a goal back in the second half but Pulisic scored his second goal late on end any hopes of a fightback.

After Liverpool had won earlier in the day, Chelsea kicked off down in sixth palace and needing to answer questions about their attitude after their defeat against West Brom.

But the Blues played their best football since Thomas Tuchel took over to blow Palace away and move back up to fourth, above Liverpool and West Ham.

Mount was outstanding again on an afternoon full of positives for Chelsea, who now turn their attention to the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Porto on Wednesday.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.