Saturday’s meeting between Chelsea and Crystal Palace should have been a cause for celebration for the hosts as Jose Mourinho took charge of his 100th Premier League game at Stamford Bridge. Over two stints in west London, the Portuguese had lost just once in front of the Chelsea faithful, that coming against Sunderland back in April 2014. Saturday’s meeting had a familiar feel to it as the Blues fell to defeat to their London rivals on home turf.
There has been a growing trend of teams struggling at home in the Premier League and the theory could not have been more applicable on Saturday as Palace came away with a 2-1 win. The same defensive frailties were once again on show as Chelsea failed to keep the Eagles’ attack at bay. The Blues have now conceded 30 shots on target, more than any other Premier League team this season, with the solidity with which Mourinho’s teams are built on quickly disappearing. Teams previously fearing playing Chelsea at home are likely to be confident of securing of positive result against the Blues.
Palace took full advantage of this, with the excellent Bakary Sako central to the Eagles’ efforts in west London. Not only did the summer signing net the opener, but his assist resulted in Joel Ward’s winner, the full-back's second goal in his last three Premier League games enough to cancel out Falcao's equaliser. Without the suspended John Terry, Mourinho partnered Gary Cahill with Kurt Zouma at the heart of the Chelsea defence, but the duo were unable to deny Sako and Ward from netting for the away side.
Sako was Palace’s biggest attacking threat during his time on the pitch and this is reflected in his WhoScored rating (8.07), while the Mali international had more shots (5) than any other player in the encounter. The 27-year-old has enjoyed a fine start to life in the Premier League having been directly involved in each of Palace’s last three league goals, netting two and assisting another. Given his insistence on driving forward and going for goal, the lack of attention to detail by the Chelsea defence was telling.
On numerous occasions, Sako was given ample time and space to turn and drive forward and having given the Blues two warnings prior to his goal - twice forcing Thibaut Courtois into smart stops - they did little to limit his influence in the final third. Of course, Terry’s absence contributed to this. The lack of leadership at the back contributed to the ease with which Palace carved open the Blues backline, particularly in the second half as the encounter opened up. A lack of protection afforded to the defence from midfield pairing Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic - the former in particular guilty of not pulling his weight at the back - hindered Chelsea. One would like to think that with Terry available, he would have kept the defence organised.
Chelsea, though, had their chances to secure victory having had more shots on goal (26 to Palace’s 13), but were unfortunate to come up against a resolute Alex McCarthy in between the Eagles sticks. The former QPR goalkeeper made a commendable 7 saves and successfully claimed 3 crosses in the victory at Stamford Bridge as the likes of Pedro, Fabregas (both 4 shots) and Willian (3 shots) failed to find a way past the England hopeful. Such a commendable showing contributed towards McCarthy’s notable WhoScored rating of 7.92 as he played a key role for Palace.
There were positives for Chelsea, despite the defeat, with the partnership between Pedro and Willian effective in the final third. Granted, the duo were unable to break down the staunch Palace defence, but the link up play between the pairing is cause for optimism, of that there is no doubt. Pedro in particular excelled once more, registering the assist for Falcao’s wonderful equaliser to gain a WhoScored rating of 7.92 to follow on from his 8.21 at West Brom last week. Importantly, his arrival eases the burden on Eden Hazard to consistently perform and gives Chelsea more options when they press forward.
Hazard was kept quiet by Palace on Saturday afternoon, yet showed glimpses of his quality when handed the opportunity to do so, twice beating his man to put in a teasing cross that, on another day, may have found a teammate. However, a rating of just 6.50 certainly points towards a disappointing showing from the highly-rated Belgian who struggled to really take the game by the scruff of the neck.
For Palace, the win will do them the world of good. No team has won more points away from home in 2015 than the Eagles (25), who deserve ample credit for their performance at the home of the champions.
Can Chelsea still be considered title contenders after defeat to Palace? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below
