Match ends, Chelsea 3, Crystal Palace 1.
04 Nov 2018
Morata double gives Chelsea victory over Palace
Alvaro Morata scored twice to sink Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge and help lift Chelsea above Liverpool into second spot in the Premier League table.
Andros Townsend's superb low finish had cancelled out a Chelsea lead given to them by Spanish forward Morata's clever shot-on-the-turn.
Palace's hopes of securing a crucial point vanished when they conceded two goals in five second-half minutes.
Substitute Eden Hazard marked his return from a back injury by delivering the free-kick for Morata to fire his second before Pedro put the game out of Palace's reach.
While unbeaten Chelsea stay two points behind leaders Manchester City, Palace remain three points above the relegation zone after a seventh defeat in 11 league games.
- Reaction from Stamford Bridge as Chelsea go second
Hazard inspires Blues on return
The headlines will be about Morata - the former Real Madrid and Juventus forward has now scored five Premier League goals plus another in the Europa League this season.
Yet the return of Hazard added much needed energy and flair to a team that had struggled to open up Palace in the opening hour.
Having missed the previous three league and cup games with a back injury, the Belgian made up for lost time. He replaced Willian in the 64th minute with the score locked at 1-1.
Ninety-one seconds after his introduction, Chelsea were back in the lead after Palace's defence failed to deal with Hazard's free-kick into box allowing Morata to drill home.
Five minutes later it was 3-1, Pedro - who had delivered the pass for Morata to break the deadlock in the first half - with an unstoppable finish after Marcos Alonso's low cross.
Since arriving in the summer of 2017, Morata has struggled to convince his critics he is a consistent goal source for Chelsea.
Yet his tireless performance against Palace could well win him a few more admirers even though he missed a chance to complete his hat-trick in the closing stages after being sent clean through by Hazard.
More to follow.
- Line-ups
- Match Stats
- Live Text
Line-ups
Chelsea
- 1Arrizabalaga
- 28Azpilicueta
- 2Rüdiger
- 30David Luiz
- 3Alonso
- 7Kanté
- 5JorginhoSubstituted forFàbregasat 80'minutes
- 8BarkleySubstituted forKovacicat 64'minutes
- 11Pedro
- 29Morata
- 22WillianSubstituted forE Hazardat 64'minutes
Substitutes
- 4Fàbregas
- 10E Hazard
- 12Loftus-Cheek
- 13Caballero
- 17Kovacic
- 21Zappacosta
- 24Cahill
Crystal Palace
- 13Hennessey
- 29Wan-Bissaka
- 5Tomkins
- 12Sakho
- 3van Aanholt
- 18McArthurSubstituted forSchluppat 80'minutes
- 8Kouyaté
- 4MilivojevicBooked at 86mins
- 7MeyerSubstituted forJ Ayewat 71'minutes
- 10Townsend
- 11Zaha
Substitutes
- 9Sørloth
- 14J Ayew
- 15Schlupp
- 31Guaita
- 34Kelly
- 42Puncheon
- 44Riedewald
- Referee:
- Michael Oliver
- Attendance:
- 40,407
Match Stats
Home TeamChelseaAway TeamCrystal Palace
- Possession
- Home74%
- Away26%
- Shots
- Home15
- Away7
- Shots on Target
- Home6
- Away2
- Corners
- Home4
- Away2
- Fouls
- Home6
- Away13
Live Text
Full Time
Second Half ends, Chelsea 3, Crystal Palace 1.
Attempt saved. Álvaro Morata (Chelsea) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top left corner. Assisted by Eden Hazard with a through ball.
Corner, Crystal Palace. Conceded by César Azpilicueta.
Attempt blocked. Andros Townsend (Crystal Palace) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Pedro (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace).
Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Cheikhou Kouyaté (Crystal Palace).
Booking
Luka Milivojevic (Crystal Palace) is shown the yellow card.
Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Luka Milivojevic (Crystal Palace).
Foul by Pedro (Chelsea).
Luka Milivojevic (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Offside, Chelsea. Pedro tries a through ball, but Álvaro Morata is caught offside.
Eden Hazard (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Jeffrey Schlupp (Crystal Palace).
Substitution
Substitution, Crystal Palace. Jeffrey Schlupp replaces James McArthur.
Substitution
Substitution, Chelsea. Cesc Fàbregas replaces Jorginho.
Attempt missed. Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by N'Golo Kanté.
Attempt missed. Patrick van Aanholt (Crystal Palace) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Luka Milivojevic.
David Luiz (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace).
Substitution
Substitution, Crystal Palace. Jordan Ayew replaces Max Meyer.
Goal!
Goal! Chelsea 3, Crystal Palace 1. Pedro (Chelsea) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Marcos Alonso with a cross.
Goal!
Goal! Chelsea 2, Crystal Palace 1. Álvaro Morata (Chelsea) left footed shot from the left side of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Eden Hazard with a cross following a set piece situation.
Eden Hazard (Chelsea) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Patrick van Aanholt (Crystal Palace).
Substitution
Substitution, Chelsea. Mateo Kovacic replaces Ross Barkley.
Substitution
Substitution, Chelsea. Eden Hazard replaces Willian.
Attempt missed. David Luiz (Chelsea) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Willian with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Wayne Hennessey.
Attempt saved. David Luiz (Chelsea) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Willian with a cross.
Pedro (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Andros Townsend (Crystal Palace).
Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by James Tomkins.
Attempt blocked. Álvaro Morata (Chelsea) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Willian.
Attempt saved. Max Meyer (Crystal Palace) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Wilfried Zaha.
Attempt saved. Willian (Chelsea) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Pedro.
Offside, Chelsea. César Azpilicueta tries a through ball, but Álvaro Morata is caught offside.
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