Chelsea got back to winning ways with a well deserved 1-0 victory away at Selhurst Park at the expense of Roy Hodgson’s men.
The game started evenly with the first real opportunity falling to Antonio Rudiger on the 11th minute. The centre-half met Willians free-kick yet failed to test Guaita in the Palace goal. Later in the half, the Blues came close to a breakthrough after Willian’s superbly struck free-kick clipped the bottom of the right-hand post. Shortly after Ross Barkley’s diving header rattled the frame of the goal again as Chelsea looked to go into the break with the lead.
Crystal Palace were not without their own threats though as Wilfried Zaha was his usual tricky self while Aaron Wan-Bissaka used his pace to run directly at the Chelsea defence. The Blues started the second half the brightest though, and in the 51st minute, they took a deserved lead as Kante produced a crisp volley on the turn after a lovely pass from David Luiz.
The Blues continued their pressure and kept Palace down to only two more shots as the game squeezed itself to a conclusion.
Has Kante found a new and possibly better position?
Ever since Mauricio Sarri brought Jorginho with him from Napoli, Kante, Chelsea’s star of the past two seasons, has been below his previous best. It is clear that Sarri sees Jorginho as his best central option, thus taking over where Kante formerly sat. But the Italian is being asked to contribute differently, more of a ‘regista’ than Kante’s box to box role.
What has Kante shifting out to the right side of a three-man midfield done to his effectiveness? It has taken it away for sure but, today against Palace he showed just what he could do in that new role. He was still his old self, running tirelessly and winning the ball back, but he made more intelligent forward runs, one of which led to his goal.
Speculation occurred a few weeks ago that Chelsea could swap Kante and Jorginho positionally, but based on today’s evidence that would be completely counterproductive. With one of them being given playmaking roles and the other winning the ball back then charging upfield, this could well be Chelsea’s recipe for success this season.
In Jose Mourinho’s last season at Chelsea, Willian was the only shining light. Where all others including Hazard lost all motivation, the Brazilian winger maintained his energy and effort and ended as Chelsea’s top scorer. However, that is now all in the past.
Thus far Hazard’s season has been nowhere near his best, despite flashes of brilliance. One cannot help but feel that he is stunting the growth and development of fantastic young players behind him. Take Hudson-Odoi for example, he was recently the subject of a £20m bid from Bayern Munich, yet at Chelsea, he rarely gets any game time at all.
Willian is undoubtedly a quality player, but I feel it is only a matter of time before Chelsea’s patience runs out. Either the rumoured new signing of Christian Pulisic or Hudson-Odoi could come in and rightfully be given their chance.
Is the Palace defence strong enough to keep them up?
Palace currently sit in 14th, five points clear of the relegation zone and many have stressed that Palace do have enough quality to stay up. However today, the defence did not appear to have the concentration required to keep you in the league.
Throughout the first-half Crystal Palace were defensively sublime. They had, in essence, a back nine that keep their shape and refused to dive in recklessly. It kept Hazard and Willian quiet on the flanks and efficiently cleared the little chips and through balls played by Chelsea’s midfield three.
However, once the second half started it was a different story. The Eagles were dragged out of position by intricate little runs in midfield, the full backs and wingers of the visitors were consistently on the overlap, unfollowed and unchecked. If Palace cannot keep concentration for the entire 90 minutes, then the rest of this season may well prove tricky.
In their win against Manchester City, Andros Townsend was sublime and was Crystal Palace’s main attacking outlet. However, in most games, it has been a case of if you stop Wilfried Zaha you stop Crystal Palace. It’s all well and good having a relatively strong defensive line up, but if you don’t have a forward to score goals, then you are going to struggle.
They must take the load off Zaha. Whenever he gets the ball on either flank, there is palpable excitement at what he is going to produce. However, he cannot and should not be expected to provide a bit of magic every time he gets the ball.
Maybe January is the perfect time for providing additional attacking options, only time will tell.
Olivier Giroud looked good today, he had two goals disallowed for very very marginal offside’s, but both were excellent finishes. The first a volley across the keeper and the second smashed into the roof of the net. However, unfortunately, they didn’t count and his goal tally remains low.
When Morata came on he looked ineffective and sloppy and Chelsea will not be able to mount a title challenge without a quality striker.
There has been speculation regarding Morata heading on loan to either Juventus or AC Milan and Gonzalo Higuain swapping Serie A for West London. This transfer would be an unbelievably exciting option, reuniting Jorginho and Sarri with Higuaín, the man who has the record for most goals scored in a Serie A season. It would be an incredibly exciting move for Chelsea and may well reignite their title push, however this season may already be gone.
Man of the Match – N’Golo Kante
It was a toss-up between the Frenchman and Jorginho as both were incredibly impressive in the Blues midfield today, however due to the Frenchman scoring the only goal and picking up his side three points it has to go to him. Their ball retention and regaining was outstanding as was their intricate passing and attacking running. Kante’s new role is one to watch as he is growing in confidence and ability and if he continues at this rate I can see him only getting better.
