Chelsea slipped to their first defeat since January as Crystal Palace secured a memorable 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues raced into an early lead on five minutes as Cesc Fabregas applied the finish from Eden Hazard’s cross, but Palace turned the game on its head with two goals in two minutes – Wilfried Zaha equalising with a stunning solo goal before setting up Christian Benteke for the Belgian’s 10th goal of the season.
Chelsea had countless opportunities to level the game but the visitors, marshalled by the imperious Mamadou Sakho, held on to claim a famous victory which will go some way to sealing their place in the top flight next term.
Diego Costa missed a hatful of opportunities while Antonio Conte will also look back on Craig Pawson’s decision not to give his side a penalty as Andros Townsend’s appeared to handle the ball to block Pedro’s goal-bound shot in the first-half.
Palace will care little as they claimed their fourth consecutive victory to move four points clear of the drop zone while Tottenham’s 2-0 victory over Burnley means Chelsea’s lead at the top of the table is now reduced to seven points.
