ai Havertz was the hero as Chelsea battled to a crucial 1-0 win over Crystal Palace in the Premier League to help relieve some of the mounting pressure on under-fire manager Graham Potter.
Chelsea paid emotional tribute to Gianluca Vialli before and during their first game at Stamford Bridge since the sad passing of their legendary former player and manager aged just 58 following a long battle with pancreatic cancer, while new signing Mykhaylo Mudryk watched on from a directors’ box and was presented to fans at half-time after completing his stunning £89million transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk.
In a feisty London derby encounter in SW6, Spanish goalkeepers Kepa Arrizabalaga and Vicente Guaita were both kept busy with a string of impressive saves that kept the deadlock intact until four minutes past the hour, when Havertz rose to meet Hakim Ziyech’s pinpoint cross following an effective short corner to punish some sleepy Palace defending and plant what proved to be a winning header into the back of the net.
That was just about what Chelsea – whose fans sang “we are staying up” in tongue-in-cheek fashion after taking the lead – deserved from an improved display, albeit one that was still not convincing by any means and in which they rode their luck at times.
But victory was essential at all costs for Potter, who was battling to save his job after a dire run of three straight defeats and just one win in nine – Chelsea’s worst top-flight run since 1996 that saw them drop down to 10th and 10 points adrift of the top four, in addition to meek exits from both domestic cup competitions at the hands of Manchester City.
Havertz should have put the game to bed with a second effort 10 minutes from time, but he could only steer another header from Mason Mount’s cross wide of the back post.
Chelsea were instead left hanging on as Palace pushed hard for a late equaliser, with Kepa at full stretch to keep out Cheick Doucoure’s sweetly-struck volley from outside the box and Thiago Silva defending heroically.
There were plenty of other chances in a lively contest, with substitute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also denied by Guaita, who also saved from Havertz after Wilfried Zaha had stung the palms of Kepa from a tight angle. Mudryk was spotted on his phone during a laboured start to the second half.
The score was deadlocked at the break, with Guaita having tipped Ziyech’s effort over the top and Kepa reacted smartly to claw away Jeff Schlupp’s front-post header.
More to follow
