Behind the efforts of stellar forwards Eden Hazard and Willian, Chelsea FC got a badly needed victory over a low table side that gifted them an own goal. Chelsea beat their London neighbor Crystal Palace 2-1 at Stamford Bridge today in a win they desperately needed for the cause of trying to get positive momentum going again.
Willian opened the scoring in the 25′, and Palace defender Martin Kelly provided an own goal seven minutes later. Patrick van Aanholt provided the only scoring for the visitors, who are now currently slotted in 18th, one of the three relegation slots.
It sounds extremely odd to say- the reigning league champions getting “a big win” in a home match drop zone fodder, but that’s where the season stands now with the Blues. Entering this match, Chelsea had lost four of their last five, getting outscored 10-5 on aggregate over that span.
However, they dominated this contest, outshooting the Eagles 27-9 and putting 11 on target, compared to Palace only obtaining two.
Willian, the man of the match, is having is best year in a Chelsea shirt by far. The Brazilian scored his 13th goal of the season, and put in an all around stellar performance that provided just about anything you could ask from someone on the pitch. Eden Hazard was consistently able to cut through the Palace defense, and set up his teammates. As usual, he was a creative force that excelled in getting the ball to open man.
The Blues are now two points behind Tottenham Hotspur for fourth place, pending the result of Spurs trip to Bournemouth tomorrow.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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