Chelsea beat Crystal Palace in Graham Potter’s first Premier League game

Chelsea narrowly defeated Crystal Palace 2-1 after a wonderful strike from Conor Gallagher in the 90th minute after coming on as a substitute.

He scored his first Chelsea goal against the club where he was on loan at last season. He was also voted Palace’s player of the year for his performances during that time. The muted celebrations were understandable given the circumstances, but inside you could see how happy he would have been to finally get off the mark for Chelsea (The club he has been at since the age of eight).

It was far from a vintage performance from the blues but a win and three points were most important from this game. Selhurst Park  is notoriously known as a tough away ground to play in despite Chelsea’s good record there in recent seasons.

Chelsea seemed to line up at the start of the game in a 4-2-2-2 formation. Marc Cucurella was ruled out through illness so Ben Chilwell started on the left side . Reece James was on the right and Wesley Fofana partnered Thiago Silva at centre back. Mateo Kovacic was with Jorginho at the base of midfield with Sterling and Mount behind Havertz and Aubameyang upfront. The formation was flexible and was adapted later on as Chelsea went in search of a winner.

Conor Gallagher played in a more advanced role when he came on and it was from this position that he scored the winning goal.

Crystal Palace took the lead inside 7 minutes as Odsonne Edouard got on the end of a cross from Jordan Ayew. This was totally against the run of play as Chelsea had dominated the game up to this point. The cross could have been closed down earlier and Chilwell did stand off Ayew who put a good ball into the box.

There was then an incident that could have turned the outcome of the game. There were a couple of factors in the possible red card for Silva who handled the ball to stop Jordan Ayew from heading towards goal. Whether he was completely through on goal is open to debate as he wasn’t completely central and was far away from goal and slightly at an angle.

It could though still be a red and Graham Potter rated it as a 50/50 decision when asked after the match.

“ I thought it was touch and go. The fact he was quite far from the goal saved him and it could've gone the other way.

"It's a close one, I can understand Patrick's [Vieira] frustration. It's a 50-50 one."

Silva then turned provider as his cushioned header from a Reece James long ball found Aubameyang who spun and finished well for his first Chelsea goal. It is this kind of chance that the manager and fans will be happy to see taken after striker issues in the recent past. It is just a start though and he will have to add consistency and more goals.

Thiago Silva had the highest rating on a few apps and websites. His stats were as follows :

116/123 passes completed (94% accuracy) - most passes completed and most accurate passer

1 chance created

1 assist

15/19 accurate long balls

1 tackle won

5 clearances

1 interception

3/5 duels won

9 ball recoveries

Reece James again had a very good game. He came up against Wilfried Zaha who was kept relatively quiet . He actually switched wings as James was able to deal with him quite effectively.

These were his stats from the game :

58/63 passes completed (92% pass accuracy)

2 chances created

11 passes into final 3rd

9 ball recoveries

1 clearance

1 interception

5/8 duels won

0 fouls committed

There was a bit of messaging on Instagram after the game with Reece James posting a pic of him and Zaha with the 🔓 icon. This prompted a response from Zaha which was later deleted .

Despite dominating possession (64%), they still had some difficulty creating clear chances. There were 13 shots but only 3 were on target with 2 of these being the goals. The expected goals figure reflected the score line with it being 1.12 to 0.44 in Chelsea's favour.

They will have to improve when they play AC Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday in what will be a crucial game in their quest to qualify from the group for the knockout stages.

Chelsea win against West Ham after late drama

Chelsea beat West Ham 2-1 with goals off the bench from Ben Chilwell and Kai Havertz. They came back from 1-0 behind and there was also some late VAR controversy as Maxwel Cornet saw his goal in the 90th minute disallowed.

Mason Mount, Kai Havertz and Jorginho were on the bench as Mateo Kovacic and Conor Gallagher returned to midfield with Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Wesley Fofana made his debut at right centre back as Reece James started at right wing back. Gallagher seemed to start in a more advanced role on the right ahead of Kovacic and Loftus-Cheek.

How Chelsea lined up at the start of the game

Pulisic and Sterling started upfront. This meant that crosses into the box were not very effective. Long balls were also difficult to play as the players used were not the most physical. No one was really in the penalty area in advanced positions. Crosses put in were easy to defend as the players used were not very physical or in the right areas. Chelsea had to use space in behind and passing angles but this proved to be difficult.

Despite dominating possession, West Ham were able to deal with Chelsea’s limited attacks quite easily in the first half. They were compact and put men behind the ball as well as being physical.

No substitutions were made at half-time. In the second half frustrations continued as shots were not taken early enough with both Pulisic and Sterling being crowded out before they could take a shot.

Chelsea’s corners were not productive again despite having 10 of them. To make matters worse they were punished by West Ham after a set piece of their own. Mendy made an error as his punch from a cross went straight to Declan Rice who passed to Michail Antonio who tapped in from close range for the opening goal.

The substitutions made by Thomas Tuchel made a big difference. There was more presence in attack with first Broja and then Havertz coming on. They ended up playing together and this may be a good option to consider going forward with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Broja provided more of a focal point and occupied the defenders. He won 4/5 of his duels (ground and aerial). He was also involved in the build up to the winning goal.

Ben Chilwell proved to be highly effective off the bench. Stats don’t show it all but his energy and drive led to both goals. He scored the first and provided Havertz with a great cross for the other. The first was an accomplished finish through the legs of Lukasz Fabianski from a tight angle.

The changes were quite risky as it meant there was only one player in the number six role towards the end of the game. First Loftus-Cheek was in this role then Jorginho came on to replace him. Jorginho lost the ball and West Ham almost took the lead through substitute Maxwel Cornet who hit the post with a header. Chelsea scored what proved to be the winner shortly after this.

A more attacking looking formation shown with Mount and Sterling behind Broja and Havertz

A goal scored by Cornet for West Ham in the last minute of normal time which would have been an equaliser was ruled out for a foul on Mendy by VAR. This was a marginal decision in my opinion and Mendy and Chelsea were lucky with the reprieve through VAR. Jarrod Bowen was adjudged to have fouled Mendy in the buildup. The ball was gone after he parried it out but Bowen left his leg in.

Mendy VAR incident via Chelsea TV highlights

VAR in general has issues as was seen in the Cucurella incident against Spurs and numerous others for Chelsea and other teams. The technology doesn’t seem to be as efficient and exact as it is in some other sports and seems more prone to human error.

Some Stats-

Thiago Silva continued his great form illustrated with some impressive stats. He completed the most passes and also won the most tackles and duels in the game.

96/103 passes completed (93%)

1 chance created

1 assist

4/6 accurate long balls

3/3 tackles won

1 clearance

2 interceptions

7 ball recoveries

6/7 ground duels

2/3 aerial duels

Team stats via Fotmob

Chelsea had significantly higher possession and accurate passes but only started shooting and creating more chances after the changes. They also had slightly lower expected goals then the Hammers.

Stat via Opta - Chelsea came from behind to win a Premier League home game after conceding the opening goal in the second half, for the first time since January 2009, against Stoke City (also 2-1).

Thomas Tuchel was pleased with the team's ability to show mental strength to win the game after being frustrated for a significant proportion of it. He also praised the impact of the substitutes.

“We wanted to restart the season today and hopefully the way we did it in a home game and the impact from the bench gives us the belief back, the confidence back that you need to play at the highest level.”

Chelsea defeat Leicester City despite being reduced to 10 men

Despite being reduced to ten men after Conor Gallagher’s sending off after 28 minutes, Chelsea were able to produce a resilient display and gain an important 3 points against Leicester City.

Kalidou Koulibaly was serving a one match ban after his sending off last week so Trevoh Chalobah came into the starting lineup to take his place. Conor Gallagher was tasked again with a deeper midfield role despite difficulties in a similar role against Leeds. It is not his best position and he did perform better in a role further up the pitch with Crystal Palace last season.

The team seemed to line up and start in a 4-2-2-2 formation. Chalobah started with Silva at centre back with James and Cucurella at right/left back. Loftus-Cheek went into midfield further upfield .

After the sending off, initially Loftus-Cheek dropped deeper. To become more solid defensively Cesar Azpilicueta came on for Mason Mount at half time and the formation reverted to a back three with Reece James at right wing back and Cucurella on the other side. This tweak seemed to improve the team performance.

Change at half time with Azpilicueta coming on sees Chelsea revert to 3 at the back with Cucurella and James as wing backs via Chelsea TV

Raheem Sterling opened his Chelsea account with a slightly fortuitous goal which took a deflection off Daniel Amartey. He then scored a second from close range after a cross from Reece James, who had another great game.

Sterling scored 2 goals with 2/3 shots on target with one hitting the post

(graphic from fotmob app)

Reece James full stats- 52/57 passes completed (91 % accuracy), 2 chances created, 1 assist, 2/2 successful dribbles 6/7 accurate long balls, 2/4 accurate crosses, 1 tackle, 1 block, 1 interception, 1 clearance ,7 ball recoveries, 4/5 ground duels won 2/4 aerial duels won.

Thiago Silva was solid once again defensively as he won the most tackles (4/5) and duels (10/11).

Leicester City did get a goal back through Harvey Barnes. Chelsea held on though for an important win despite being under heavy pressure towards the end of the game.

It is a bit difficult to analyse this game as you have to take into context Chelsea were playing with one less player for more than two thirds of the game. This means that you would expect the team to be not as dominant in terms of possession and attacking statistics as proved to be the case.

Chelsea had slightly less possession (45 %), less accurate passes ( 456 v 372), less shots (7 v 17) and less big chances (3 v 4). It was important to take those chances when they did come. Leicester missed all 4 of their big chances.

The team were fortunate that those chances were not taken. Edouard Mendy would have been disappointed to be beaten at his near post but he did make some crucial saves at important moments during the game.

Thomas Tuchel was in the stands and not the touchline after his one game ban and praised his side after a hard fought win.

“ I was in the stadium, and I felt the atmosphere. It is unusual and we do not need to do it again. I couldn’t have influence directly from the sidelines but I am happy we got the win.”

He also praised goalscorer Raheem Sterling.

“It was necessary because we need him to score. It’s what he does and he will score. I could feel he was not happy because he wants to score more and have more chances.

We played today in a more aggressive shape but then we were one man down so we needed him to step up, which he did. The goals were crucial today because they gave us the belief.”

On Gallagher and the sending off.

“Today he is responsible for what he did and he knows it was a huge mistake. We spoke briefly after the game and things like this happen. It’s not purely his fault alone because it was a set-piece for us and it’s sloppy how we take set-pieces at the moment.”

It was an important win and there are two more games coming up this week against Southampton away and West Ham at home.

Video from Raheem Sterling’s instagram after the game