In the early morning of December 28 (Vietnam time), Chelsea met Crystal Palace in the London derby in round 19 of the Premier League 2023-2024. Both teams are in a stressful period, but in the end, only Chelsea temporarily relieved with a 2-1 victory.
Palace have often had difficult matches against Chelsea in recent years, however, at Stamford Bridge, it was impossible to recognize that with the way coach Roy Hodgson's team started.
The "Owl Rovers" pressed well, the passing staff was good and should have opened the scoring with Eberechi Eze's direct free kick a little more accurate.
For Chelsea, this is their youngest starting lineup in Premier League history - 23 years and 21 days, but they are not easy to break. In contrast, The Blues marked that milestone with a beautiful goal in just 15 minutes.
Malo Gusto started with an excellent turn in midfield and then fell to the left wing, passing the ball to Mykhailo Mudryk to finish with one touch, opening the score.
Christopher Nkunku also had an effective first half, but his chances from close range after a pass from Nicolas Jackson were thwarted.
Chelsea had a few other chances, but the first half ended in a balanced position. As soon as he entered the extra time, Michael Olise - who was expected to join Chelsea next summer, scored an equalizer to level the score at 1-1.
After the break, the match went quite well, as Palace continued to be the team with the first chance. Chelsea started the second half more slowly and disappointed coach Mauricio Pochettino.
It was even more disappointing when Jackson faced goalkeeper Dean Henderson but the shot missed the goal.
Jackson may have thought he would make up for his mistake later with Thiago Silva's pass into the net, but VAR determined the offside error.
The match could also end with 1 point spread equally for each team if referee Michael Salisbury does not review VAR for Eze's loss to Noni Madueke in the penalty area.
In the 89th minute, Madueke himself successfully executed the 11m kick, sealing the score 2-1 for Chelsea.
The Blues are still 10th in the table, but this is the first time since October 2022 that they have won three consecutive home games.
There will only be a little less pressure to relieve, as Chelsea are the team that conceded 53 goals in the Premier League in 2023 the most in the history of the tournament.
