Sub Abraham saves Lampard’s blushes
Blues limp over line to tighten Europe grip
IT really didn’t need to be this excruciating for Chelsea. They won in the end, Tammy abraham plundering the decisive goal as the Blues strengthened their grip on Champions league qualification.
But gosh they made life extremely hard for themselves. Crystal Palace deserve credit for making a fist of a game that, at times, looked certain to see Chelsea canter home.
equally, Chelsea deserve their fair share of blame for turning what should have been a cruise into a heart-stopping crisis.
‘It was nerve-wracking. Maybe we were fortunate in the final five minutes, but we should have had the game under much more control at that point,’ said manager Frank lampard.
at this stage of the season, however, victories are all that matter.
That would have been lampard’s exact sentiments when Kepa arrizabalaga brilliantly tipped Scott Dann’s header on to the post deep into stoppage time.
This was an uncomfortable night for lampard and Chelsea when it really didn’t have to be.
Indeed, there was a certain unease about Chelsea’s opener when it arrived in just the sixth minute.
Former Stamford Bridge defender Gary Cahill looked to have the situation in hand as he chased down Willian. But then came two pops. The first was the sound of Cahill’s hamstring, the second the sound of Olivier Giroud tapping Willian’s pass home from close range.
This was awkward for Chelsea. Should Willian have put the ball out of play? Should Chelsea let their opponents score?
By the look of Cheikhou Kouyate’s animated expression during an intense discussion with Giroud, you got the impression Palace would answer yes to both.
The anguished look on lampard’s face suggested even he was in inner conflict, though Palace boss roy Hodgson absolved Chelsea of any wrongdoing.
‘It would be asking a lot for
Chelsea to stop, people react instinctively,’ said Hodgson. ‘It would be unrealistic of me to suggest they would put their foot on the ball and see how Gary is — but in the end it cost us a point.’
On 42 points, Palace are safe and know it — the perfect recipe for a season to tamely peter out. Four defeats in succession is testament to that.
But for a couple of sporadic Palace forays forward, it was a matter of when, not if, Chelsea would extend their advantage.
That moment arrived in the 27th minute, Christian Pulisic continuing his excellent start to Project restart with a powerful drive from another Willian assist that beat Vicente Guaita at his near post. But the Blues have discovered an unwanted knack of making things difficult for themselves.
So it was, perhaps, no surprise to lampard when Wilfried Zaha’s 30-yard effort evaded arrizabalaga in the 34th minute to give the eagles a lifeline.
By the end of the first half, Chelsea were clinging on for dear life — Christian Benteke squandering a good headed chance on the stroke of half-time. The break stemmed the momentum Palace had built but as the minutes ticked by, anxiety begin to seep back into the visitor’s game.
lampard rolled the dice, introducing top-scorer abraham and ruben loftus-Cheek from the bench in the 64th minute. The changes paid instant dividends, loftus-Cheek playing through abraham, who fired past Guaita within seven minutes of entering the fray.
But once again, Chelsea recklessly shot themselves in the foot, as Jordan ayew squared to Benteke one minute later, who had the simplest tasks of poking home from close range.
lampard immediately looked back at his bench with disdain. Perhaps he knew what was coming.
Palace thought they had grabbed an equaliser in the last of five minutes of stoppage time when Dann, via a brilliant save from arrizabalaga, cannoned a header off the inside of the post.
There was even time for a last chance for Palace as Benteke raced clear, only for Kurt Zouma to produce an outstanding lastditch tackle to save his team.
CRYSTAL PALACE (4-3-3): Guaita; Ward, Dann, Cahill (Sakho 9), Van Aanholt; McArthur (McCarthy 80), Milivojevic (Meyer 89), Kouyate; Ayew (Townsend 80), Benteke, Zaha. Subs not used: Hennessey, Woods, Mitchell, Pierrick, Riedewald. Booked: Milivojevic.
CHELSEA (4-3-3): Arrizabalaga; James, Zouma, Christensen, Azpilicueta; Gilmour (Jorginho 80), Barkley (Loftus-Cheek 64), Mount; Willian, Giroud (Abraham 64), Pulisic. Subs not used: Rudiger, Alonso, Rodriguez, Caballero, Hudson-Odoi, Batshuayi. Man of the match: Willian. Referee: David Coote.