Chelsea were beaten in a frustrating encounter at Stamford Bridge that saw the Blues unable to score from a host of chances through a game they dominated.
It looked like it was going to be a comfortable afternoon for the Blues after they took a very early lead through Cesc Fabregas, but it turned out to be a short lived advantage, with the opposition taking advantage of slack defending to score twice in reply almost immediately.
After that the game was largely a siege of the Palace goal, with nobody in Blue able to get the vital touch to draw the home side level.
Here are our ratings from today’s featured Chelsea players…
Starting Eleven:
Thibaut Courtois – 6 – Great save at 2-1 to keep Chelsea in the game and little that he could do for Palace’s goals.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 5 – Part of the defence that conceded two sloppy goals and worked tirelessly to try and force the attack, sometimes to the detriment of the overall play.
David Luiz – 6 – Also culpable for the defensive problems but his decent passing and runs forward made some impression in the game.
Gary Cahill – 5 – The most responsible for the two goals and the least able to make up for it in open play afterwards given his limited ability on the ball.
Pedro – 6 – Very defensively suspect for the shock double whammy from Palace but heavily involved down the right from then on. Continued to contribute offensively even as he was shuffled around the pitch in the second half.
Marcos Alonso – 5 – Struggled against the pace of Townsend and Puncheon when they attacked together, put some dangerous balls in but could have done better with the space he was often given down the left. Taken off in a second half reshuffle.
N’Golo Kante – 5 – Not able to prevent Palace’s goals and then struggled to play killer passes as he was allowed possession further and further up the pitch. Unable to use his burst of pace against such a deep midfield. His worst game for a while.
Cesc Fabregas -4 – Had his best moment of the game within minutes as he hit a beautiful long ball to Hazard and then put away the return pass, but then failed to impose himself on a game that was crying out for a player of his skillset to take control.
Nemanja Matic – 3 – Chelsea’s worst player on the day. Gave ball away repeatedly with a bad pass and some bad touches in the first half, looked primed to be the player to come off in the second, and was removed pretty promptly for Willian.
Diego Costa – 5- Flashes of good interplay and won some big headers but failed to put the away the chances that the team needed him to.
Eden Hazard – 7 – Set up first goal with a wonderful turn and threatened through the first half. Fouled constantly but kept pushing. Faded badly at the very end but was still Chelsea’s greatest threat throughout.
Substitutes:
Willian – 7 – Made a big difference when he came on, creating danger down the right and whipping balls across time after time.
Batshuayi- 7 – Had a decent amount of time on the pitch and held the ball up well on the one occasion he was found in the box, but otherwise trapped in a sea of Palace defenders.
