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Princely Willian assists Chelsea to victory despite late Crystal Palace siege

Luka Milivojevic of Crystal Palace puts pressure on Willian of Chelsea during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Chelsea FC at Selhurst Park - Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Luka Milivojevic of Crystal Palace puts pressure on Willian of Chelsea during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Chelsea FC at Selhurst Park - Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Whatever the future holds for Willian, his Chelsea legacy is looking pretty safe thanks to his decision to stay at the club for the rest of the season.

Despite winning two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the Europa League during his seven seasons at Chelsea, Willian has been a player who has divided opinion among fans. But nobody will be arguing that the 31-year-old has been anything but brilliant ever since Chelsea restarted their season.

His two assists at Selhurst Park, for Olivier Giroud and Christian Pulisic, plus a goal from substitute Tammy Abraham, helped to keep Chelsea on course for Champions League qualification.

Chelsea almost shot themselves in the foot by twice letting Crystal Palace back in and then surviving two huge let-offs in stoppage time, but this felt like a big win.

“We might have been fortunate in the last five minutes, but we should have had the game under control by then,” said Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard. “At 2-0 we were in control of the game and at 3-2 we had lots of chances to kill the game.”

Abraham’s goal was only his second since the turn of the year and Lampard added: “It will be really important for him. He is desperate for goals and he had not scored for a while. It’s good for his confidence and he took it well.”

Willian could have left on June 30 and if he had done so then the winger may well have departed with a cloud over his Blues career. But the way in which he has played since the restart has ensured Willain will either sign off in style or possibly win himself a new Chelsea contract.

Crystal Palace vs Chelsea, Premier League: live score and latest updates - REUTERS
Crystal Palace vs Chelsea, Premier League: live score and latest updates - REUTERS

This is already Willians’s most productive season in terms of Premier League goals, with his tally of nine beating his previous best of eight in 2016-17. And it took him just six minutes at Selhurst Park to take his number of assists for the campaign up to six, even though there was an element of good fortune for Chelsea.

Former Chelsea captain Gary Cahill pulled up with a hamstring injury as he moved out to cover a Reece James pass down the right, leaving Willian to race clear. The Brazilian took the ball to the byline and expertly cut it back for Giroud to score the easiest of goals.

Some Palace players complained that Chelsea had played on, but manager Roy Hodgson said: “I am realistic. For me to suggest they should have stopped playing, that’s not the way football is.”

Cahill had to go off, with Hodgson claiming he could now miss the rest of the season, and Willian’s number of assists should have gone up to seven, but Kurt Zouma headed his perfectly delivered corner wide.

Willian was proving impossible to mark for the Palace defence, as he moved from the right to the left and, at times, lingered in the middle.

In the 26th minute, he did register assist No7 by passing the ball to Pulisic, who smashed a brilliant shot past Vicente Guaita.

Lampard had wanted more goals from his wide attacking players before the lockdown and since the restart Willian has scored four times and Pulisic three. “Willian and Christian are a big threat for us at the minute,” said Lampard. “They have had an impact on all of the games and Willian deserves huge credit. I am so pleased for him.”

For as good as Willian and Pulisic have been since the restart, goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga has struggled in almost equal measure. And there were questions asked of the Spaniard once again, as Palace got themselves back into the match from nowhere with 11 minutes of the first period remaining.

James was careless to give the ball away, allowing Patrick van Aanholt to break forward and his pass inside deflected into the path of Wilfried Zaha. There is no debating the fact that Zaha’s 30-yard shot carried plenty of punch and appeared spectacular on first look, but replays suggested Kepa should have got a hand to it.

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The goal gave Palace hope and they finished the first half well, with Joel Ward hitting the top of the bar with a cross and Christian Benteke heading at Kepa.

Chelsea should have regained their two-goal cushion after the break, when James swung over a cross for Giroud but the Frenchman headed wastefully over.

But the visitors were fortunate that Jordan Ayew’s effort was deflected wide after they had failed to deal with a corner and Lampard responded by sending on Abraham and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

The change proved inspired, as Loftus-Cheek played the ball out to Abraham on the right side of the area and he scored with a goal that deflected into the net off the inside of the post.

With 19 minutes remaining that should have been game over and yet Chelsea let Palace straight back in, as Van Aanholt wriggled his way into the box and picked out Benteke to score from close range.

The goal was only Benteke’s second of the season and his first at Selhurst Park since April 2018. The Belgian could well have snatched an equaliser as Palace twice went close at the death.

First, Scott Dann’s header from a Zaha cross was tipped on to the inside of the post by Kepa and then Zouma produced a brilliant tackle to stop Benteke from equalising.

 


06:56 PM

FULL TIME

Palace just can't quite find an equaliser, Chelsea survive!


06:56 PM

90 mins+5 - Crystal Palace 2 Chelsea 3

PALACE MUST SCORE! OFF THE LINE! OFF THE POST! Wow. What an end to the game this is, Palace are pressing and pushing and have Chelsea on the ropes. Pulisic and Abraham don't do nearly enough to keep possession and that gives an opportunity for one more chance. A cross to the back post, Dann arrives to head it and shoots to the far corner, with the clang off the post denying the goal.


06:53 PM

90 mins +2 - Crystal Palace 2 Chelsea 3

KOUYATE GOES DOWN IN THE BOX! Loftus-Cheek is tight to him, doesn't make a tackle... but Kouyate has definitely been tripped. Chelsea counter, Willian gets a shot away and the VAR review can be revealed....

No penalty. The replay shows that Kouyate tripped himself.


06:52 PM

90 mins+2 - Crystal Palace 2 Chelsea 3

Kouyate is down and needs treatment after falling to the floor and landing on his arm awkwardly. He seems to be OK after a little chat with the physio. 


06:50 PM

90 mins - Crystal Palace 2 Chelsea 3

Abraham  has a great chance to finish this one off as Willian dances through the box and the ball lands in space inside the area. Abraham lines up his shot, pulls the trigger and drags it miles wide, before shouting into the sky. Should have put that on target.


06:47 PM

87 mins - Crystal Palace 2 Chelsea 3

Willian races away from Zaha, gets to the box and you think he's about to punt it at goal... but a pass inside sets up Mount. He sidefoots it carefully towards the bottom corner and the goalkeeper can reach it due to the lack of power.

It's really weird how Jorginho seems to always be in the right place to intercept clearances. Neville just described him as being 'like a magnet', which is better than anything I've come up with.


06:44 PM

85 mins - Crystal Palace 2 Chelsea 3

Pulisic goes on a mazy directly at the Palace defence, looking for a way to run through the wall of players. It doesn't work. 

Jorginho has changed the game since coming on. Gilmour was doing well but fading a little, while Jorginho is impossible to miss, yelling at teammates, making passes, trying longer passes to switch play, intercepting. 


06:42 PM

82 mins - Crystal Palace 2 Chelsea 3

McCarthy and Townsend replace Ayew and McArthur.

I've just found out from our friends at Opta that there were just 82 seconds between the goals scored by Tammy Abraham and Christian Benteke.

Jorginho is on for Chelsea in a straight swap with Gilmour. Lampard sticking with the 4-3-3/4-1-2-3 shape.


06:39 PM

79 mins - Crystal Palace 2 Chelsea 3

I think Chelsea could do with another defensive midfielder alongside Gilmour at the moment to shield the defence and block the centre of the pitch. Loftus-Cheek and Mount are both basically 10s and it's leaving a lot of space between the forwards and the defence. 


06:36 PM

76 mins - Crystal Palace 2 Chelsea 3

Brilliant from Zaha! Christensen can't get close enough to him to commit a foul, allowing Zaha to dance away from a few challenges and start a counter. Ayew rewards all that effort, and balance, and strength, and skill, and speed... by overrunning the ball out for a goal kick.


06:32 PM

GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!

BENTEKE PULLS ONE BACK IMMEDIATELY!

This is plain bad defending from Christensen, who is being bullied by Benteke. He doesn't go in hard to win a 50/50 inside the area, presumably for fear of giving away a penalty - which would definitely have happened had he made a challenge - but by letting Van Aanholt run through, he frees up the space for the Palace man to cut a pass across the six yard box. Benteke taps it in.


06:31 PM

GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!

ABRAHAM SCORES!

Palace are in control of possession and pushing, but that suits Chelsea's counter-attack style perfectly. Loftus-Cheek waits just long enough to draw the defender towards him and then scoops a little through-ball into Abraham in space inside the area. He has time to get his angles right and shoots low and hard into the bottom corner.


06:31 PM

71 mins - Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 2

Zaha comes to life in little bursts, he's so difficult to defend against. He accelerates from a standstill to cross into the box, Benteke controls and shields, spins to shoot... and swipes at thin air. 


06:29 PM

69 mins - Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 2

Ashley Cole analysis:

"I think Chelsea are dropping a little too deep, the Palace front three are working hard to close them down."


06:26 PM

66 mins - Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 2

Abraham and Loftus-Cheek about to come on for Chelsea, replacing Giroud and Barkley. 

Willian is working really hard on his right wing to track the runs of Van Aanholt. That's what you need from senior players so the youngsters realise they can't just only do the fun stuff in the final third if they want to win. 


06:24 PM

64 mins - Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 2

Palace are battering Chelsea players in the air. Giroud has won 16 per cent of six aerial duels, Christensen has won three out of six, while Pulisic and Barkley are both on 0 per cent. Lampard might need some steel on the pitch.


06:21 PM

61 mins - Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 2

Milivojevic has gone down after taking a whack on the head from Ayew's knee, possibly his foot. His head bangs down off the floor too - all accidental of course - but he needs some treatment.


06:19 PM

58 mins - Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 2

 Palace look a lot bigger and stronger than Chelsea. I think the word I'm looking for here is 'harder'. They are more likely to win a fight, and that is a bit of a problem when players are trying to contest 50/50s in the middle of the pitch. 


06:15 PM

55 mins - Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 2

Chelsea opt not to cross a free-kick from distance in and instead work it wide, James overlaps and crosses in from a wide area... and GIROUD IS THERE! He heads over. And he knows he should have scored too. 


06:13 PM

51 mins - Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 2

Willian takes an accidental volley straight into the face and goes down clutching his head. Van Aanholt wants to counter-attack but the referee rightly halts play... if only Cahill had pretended to have hurt his head, perhaps that goal wouldn't have happened. I mean, it would. It was clearly his hamstring.


06:10 PM

48 mins - Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 2

Chelsea pressing with a bit more energy in the Palace half, as though Lampard has reminded them they need to aggressively chase the ball.


06:05 PM

KICK OFF 2

We're back. 


05:57 PM

I think we can all agree...

... that it's absolutely fine that Chelsea continued playing as Cahill went down. It's the most controversial talking point of the game so far even though there's really nothing controversial about it! I'm sure some Palace fans will disagree and to you I say: 'fair enough'.


05:50 PM

HALF TIME

A couple of moments of quality from Chelsea, an extremely fortunate hamstring twang for Cahill, and they're actually a little fortunate to have the lead. Palace are completely in this game.


05:48 PM

45 mins+3 - Palace 1 Chelsea 2

Palace still in the final third but Chelsea are keeping play wide and blocking everything. It's all a little scrappy at the moment and I'd imagine Lampard would love the whistle to blow. A free-kick into the area is headed powerfully at goal, Palace are pushing up and preventing Chelsea playing out from the back.


05:45 PM

44 mins - Palace 1 Chelsea 2

Palace are pushing for an equaliser in the final few moments of the half. Ward absolutely batters a cross at goal which... wow that almost went straight in! Kepa looked beaten by it but apparently the ball went out of play first.


05:42 PM

41 mins - Palace 1 Chelsea 2

That goal was Zaha's first in the Premier League in 2020. He's so important to Palace but can you imagine the damage he'd do in a better team?

Billy Gilmour's decision making, positioning and off the ball movement are mentally good for someone who is 19. My decisions at that age were mostly based around how many pints I could afford that week and still eat dinner. The answer: many! But low quality dinners. Very low.


05:40 PM

38 mins - Palace 1 Chelsea 2

I'm being really harsh on Kepa actually. But... as Neville said on co-comms, a top level goalkeeper saves that. But Zaha hit it with so much power that the thing flew like a rocket towards him.


05:35 PM

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!

OH WOW OW OWO WOW OW OWOWOWOWO WOWOWOWOWOW! WHAT A HIT!

Zaha hit that from outer space! The ball bounces into the middle of the pitch, Zaha collects, turns onto his right and then launches a shot with spin and dip which crashes into the back of the net. I think Kepa should have saved that, really don't understand where they got a £70million valuation from.


05:33 PM

33 mins - Palace 0 Chelsea 2

It's almost three! Chelsea look great in attack today. Pulisic comes to the right, darts into the 10 space, has Willian on his left and sets him up for the shot. Willian wants to curl this top corner but doesn't put quite enough on it, ending up hitting a low shot into the goalkeeper.


05:31 PM

30 mins - Palace 0 Chelsea 2

Ward, the full-back, didn't even do anything wrong in that situation. He showed the play wide, had him tracked, but Pulisic was just so quick and in control of the play that you can't blame the defending. He might have been able to have his starting position a little over, maybe his body shape slightly flatter... but he didn't want Pulisic to go inside because that's where the threat was. Having a strike on both feet is such an amazing trait for Pulisic.


05:28 PM

GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!

That's brilliant by Pulisic!

Chelsea attack, pass and move, lots of running off the ball, Pulisic receives the ball in the area, taps the ball forward then drops a shoulder. Before he can take a third touch to take the ball away from the defender he lashes a powerful strike in the near post on his left foot. Goalkeeper and defender just didn't expect it!


05:26 PM

Drinks break

Chelsea in charge here.


05:22 PM

22 mins - Palace 0 Chelsea 1

I feel bad for Zaha in this team. He's a great player who cannot get any assists or goals, who is kicked repeatedly and overloaded by defenders to keep quiet, and who sprints up and down a wing doing mostly defensive work only to see his teammates punt a useless cross towards nobody and cause him to have to make another 70 yard sprint to be in position. 


05:20 PM

20 mins - Palace 0 Chelsea 1

Hodgson wants his players to get up the field and is pacing the little manager jail (that box on the touchline) to issue instructions. Palace are attacking more but the quality is lacking. Ayew gives away a poor pass to hand over possession. His teammates will be raging about that, it takes them so long to win the ball back - Chelsea have already had 64 per cent of possession.


05:17 PM

17 mins - Palace 0 Chelsea 1

Zaha can accelerate into space behind the Chelsea defence because the line is so high! He's kept wide left, passes inside to try and set up a shot... but that's behind for a corner. Kepa sort of half punches/flaps that one away, then catches the cross sent in afterwards.


05:15 PM

14 mins - Palace 0 Chelsea 1

Palace win a corner, curl it to the back post and Chelsea break. A brilliant turn by Mount keeps the move going, Barkley shifts it on and Milivojevic slides in to hack him down. I'm not quite sure why he's so adamant that the referee got it wrong. The video of that foul is in a book somewhere that defines what a foul is. 

Chelsea try a little set piece routine that allows Barkley to batter the ball low at the wall but he only ends up winning a corner. Willian curls that out for a goal kick.


05:11 PM

11 mins - Palace 0 Chelsea 1

Chelsea are ramping up the pressure and Palace seem a little unsettled from what's just happened. Willian should volley at goal but tries to take it down with a touch in the area, it bounces off him and goes behind for a corner. 

That ball is curled out to the penalty area, Zouma attacks it and is UNMARKED! ZOUMAAAAAAAA heads just wide. So close.


05:09 PM

8 mins - Palace 0 Chelsea 1

There's a sportsmanship issue here but I think Chelsea were entitled to play on. Cahill is going to have to come off, and will almost certainly miss the rest of the season if it was a hamstring clang. Not sure that's a phrase, but we're going with it.

Sakho comes on for Cahill.


05:08 PM

GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!

Oh that's a bad one for Cahill. Giroud doesn't even celebrate when he taps into the goal as Willian is able to sprint in behind the defence and into the box as Cahill goes down as though sniped from the stands. 

Palace players aren't happy about that and feel the ball should have gone out of play in the interests of fairness.


05:07 PM

6 mins - Palace 0 Chelsea 0

Gary Neville reckons Jorginho is being managed out of the club, judging by how Gilmour is being selected ahead of him. Chelsea could be in here as Cahill goes down - his hamstring has gone!!! 


05:05 PM

5 mins - Palace 0 Chelsea 0

Zaha shows a nice touch to cut inside and lead an attack but James comes across on the opposite wing to clean up. He gets lucky with a pass rebounding straight off a Palace forward and back to his goalkeeper.


05:03 PM

3 mins - Palace 0 Chelsea 0

Ooooohhhh a mistake almost gifts McArthur a chance to open the scoring. A loose ball back to the goalkeeper, he has to come off his line to meet it and then clears straight to the Palace midfielder, who just can't get his shot on target to score.


05:01 PM

KICK OFF

And here we go!


04:58 PM

Chelsea in their new away shirt

It's really good. Like a properly cool looking shirt. Although the more I stare at it the more I see it looks every so slightly like they're all wearing pyjamas.


04:57 PM

Here come the players

The invisible fake crowd already making quite a lot of noise as the players come onto the pitch. The teams are still maintaining social distance as they do, which makes perfect sense having seen crowds of 100s gather outside narrow streets with open pubs on the weekend. 


04:49 PM

How the table looks before the match

 


04:39 PM

Frank Lampard loves Roy Hodgson

Lampard on what he expects from Billy Gilmour:

"To play the way he trains,. He shows it every day so I just want him to bring that."

What challenge do Palace pose?

"It's really hard, a team fighting at the bottom have their own reasons, but a team in Palace's position can be slightly more relaxed. I dunno. I know they've got a great manager. I worked under Roy."

Roy Hodgson on what his take on the games are:

"Get through them, quite frankly. It was never going to be easy with the type of teams we've got to play. We always knew it would be an uphill struggle but we'll prepare as we can and try to get results."


04:35 PM

Chelsea's transfer business

Timo Werner is a great signing for Chelsea, who are clearly intent on making sure they don't fall too far behind Liverpool and Manchester City at the top of the league for years to come. A few of the key players are getting on a bit now (Willian, Azpilicueta) and will need replaced eventually, so it's important to keep the dressing room culture alive by bringing in top quality to challenge them while still on top of their game.

Ziyech will be great fun to watch when he finally moves to Stamford Bridge, and Kai Havertz, who the club are heavily linked with, would be a significant statement of intent. He is one of the most highly rated young players in Europe, the sort of player that Mount and Barkley are supposed to be as good at but haven't really gotten much better than they were when first on the scene. That sounds harsh, especially on Mount, but players with potential need to improve to avoid standing still. Mount could go on to be an excellent midfielder, but he doesn't quite produce the numbers necessary yet.


04:15 PM

Listen to Audio Football Club (pls)

The Telegraph's football podcast comes out every Monday and the latest episode is full of lovely analysis, insight and opinion, almost all of it good. The other part is when I talk, but you can just skip those bits. Give it a listen here:

 


04:07 PM

Michy Batshuayi emerges from the shadows

Batshuayi's in the Chelsea squad for the first time in about 20 years, and it looks like Gilmour has taken Jorginho's place in Frank Lampard's plans for now. He is absolutely brilliant, to be fair.


04:01 PM

Starting lineups

Here are the teams:

 


03:33 PM

Good evening!

Welcome to our liveblog for Crystal Palace vs Chelsea, a London derby that doesn't feel (as a neutral) as though there's any real geographical tension. Maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps tonight we'll see the full animosity between groups of players live in the west or south east of London. Territory. Rivalry. Roy Hodgson. You have to love Roy Hodgson.

Frank Lampard wasn't even born when Hodgson started managing back in 1976 (Lampard appeared in 1978), so there's a fair chance the coaching guidelines and manuals that Lampard has studied on his way to becoming Chelsea manager were designed off the teachings of the Crystal Palace man. 

That tactical wizardry has helped Hodgson keep Palace away from relegation danger for most of the season and on 42 points, they are safe. Chelsea have a lot more riding on this game, which can give a team a big advantage in terms of motivation and determination, and considering the nice attacking football that Lampard's players are producing, that should make for an entertaining game.

Hodgson spoke of his club's ambitions in the press conference for this game:

"Of course, it's a club I think has potential too. We're finding that it's always a battle to stay in the league, but less of a battle this year and perhaps even less of a battle last year than the one previous to that.

"We need to work that little bit harder to make sure our squad is strong enough to make certain that every year, there's not going to be a question of 'are we going to stay in the league', it's going to be more of a question of 'how high can we get? Can we make certain we finish in the top half rather than the bottom?'"

Kick off is 6pm, you can follow all the action with us here in this liveblog, or watch along while you read on Sky Sports.