Chelsea produced a 3-1 win in the end at Selhurst Park, but it was far from an assured performance, especially in the first half. In the end two goals from Conor Gallagher, including an injury time winner and a well taken Enzo Fernandez goal right at the end secured the three points.
Chelsea started with the same team as against Aston Villa in the FA Cup but Thiago Silva came in for the injured Benoit Badiashile. The formation shows Nicolas Jackson on the left, but he did operate more centrally at times as Chilwell tried to attack from the left wing.
Crystal Palace were without some of their key players, Michael Olise, Ebereche Eze and Marc Guehi, so Chelsea were expected to win comfortably despite the difficulty of playing in the slightly hostile atmosphere. Palace lined up in their usual 4-3-3 formation.
The first half performance from Chelsea was poor. Despite dominating possession (80%), they failed to have any shots on target (1 off target). The team broke the Premier League record for the number of passes made without having a shot on target (420) via Opta.
The difficulties in build-up play and passing are shown below by the distances and spaces between the players, making ball progression more difficult. They also moved the ball very slowly in the first half, taking time to make passes. Palace sat in a low block and counterattacked.
Gaps and spaces between players led to slow build up play and passing.
Crystal Palace took the lead in the game in the 30th minute through Jefferson Lerma, who produced a great strike from just outside the box. Noni Madueke tried to dribble the ball out of defence and attempted a short pass to Caicedo, who was dispossessed. There were appeals for a foul, but these were not heard. The defence was slow to close down the midfielder’s shot, and the ball went past Djordje Petrovic.
There was some interesting analysis on the strike by Petr Cech, who was a pundit on Sky for the game. He said even before the game that he tended to not stay back and so deep close to the goal as a keeper like Petrovic. Even though this gives a keeper more time to react it opens the goal up more when a ball is struck. He said instead he would move closer to the ball to close the angle and give the player taking the shot less of the goal to aim at. Petrovic had a good game in general, but it was something insightful from the former Chelsea goalkeeper.
Cech shows the difference in positioning when attempting to save a shot and the consequences.
The second half was much better from the blues as Christopher Nkunku came on for Madueke. This meant that Chelsea had two forward players, as he joined Nicolas Jackson upfront. Mauricio Pochettino noted after the game that he also put Palmer and Gallagher as narrow attacking midfielders (number 10s) to give Chelsea an extra threat in forward positions. This also allowed extra space for Malo Gusto on the right especially and Ben Chilwell on the left wings to get forward. Gusto was one of the few consistent high performers throughout the game for Chelsea. Palmer was also able to come inside to the right half space when attacking to be the creative spark.
It was Gusto who provided the cross to Gallagher who scored the equaliser. Gallagher then scored the crucial winner in the 91st minute, and Enzo Fernandez scored the third with a composed finish to seal the win. Both goals were assisted by Cole Palmer. Palmer had been relatively quiet prior to this but showed his class when it mattered, unlocking the Palace defence with two well weighted passes.
The man of the match was Conor Gallagher, as he provided the all-important goals, but Malo Gusto was certainly another good performer for the team.
Conor Gallagher’s game by numbers vs. Crystal Palace:
86% pass accuracy
72 touches
38/44 passes completed
4 ground duels won
3 key passes
2 goals
Gallagher covered a lot of ground in the game as his heat map shows and ran a total of around 13km
It was disappointing to see the first half performance from the team, especially after the encouraging 3-1 win and performance against Aston Villa in the FA Cup. The inconsistency seems to be something that has almost come to be expected this season, maybe due to their inexperience and age. The average age of the squad overall is low, barring a few players like Thiago Silva and Raheem Sterling. The team that played against Aston Villa had an average age of 23. It may be important to add some experience to the squad, as Pochettino has mentioned before.
Mauricio Pochettino was frustrated with the first-half performance but pleased with the fightback and Conor Gallagher in particular.
“After the first 45 minutes, I was very disappointed with the performance, but that is the challenge every single game. We played a fantastic game against Aston Villa and then after that first 45 minutes, you feel really disappointed.
In the second half, we started really well, but I think it was a tough game. In the end, I’m really pleased because in this type of game, even if we didn't play 45 minutes in the way we wanted, it’s useful to build our confidence, analyse, and prepare to be consistent.
We are a team where we perform sometimes better when we have space and the possibility to run. We use the transition very well, but when the opponent plays like they played today with a low block, we need to show more patience and move the ball quickly. We were so slow in the way we decided to move the ball.
On Gallagher- “Conor is a player with a great commitment to the team and he tries to compensate in an offensive and defensive position, and that is priceless. I’m so happy for him and the team because it’s an important three points. Conor was always the player that arrived before the second line with the possibility to score. Conor is a player who loves to run and use the freedom to play when we have the ball. He is very consistent in dropping back and helping the team in a defensive situation as well. I think he is a player who has been doing a fantastic job since the beginning of the season.”
It can be seen from his comments how much he values Gallagher, despite rumours of a move away from his boyhood club.
Chelsea next head to the Etihad to face Manchester City before facing Liverpool in the Carabao Cup Final in two tough games. A win in the Cup would secure a European place (Europa Conference League) for the team.
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