A nearly invincible Chelsea side were stunned by Crystal Palace this weekend. Chelsea and Palace are on two opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to league positions. Palace have been hovering near about the relegation zone for almost the whole season. And on the other hand, the Chelsea team as so close that they can almost feel the trophy. But then, the premier league has this uncanny ability to pull off upsets every now and then.
The Blues went ahead on the 5th-minute mark and everyone thought that it was going to be just another day at the office. But Sam Allardyce’s men had totally different plans. They quickly equalized within 3 minutes from falling behind courtesy of Wilfred Zaha. Zaha tucked the ball neatly through Alonso’s legs and into the back of the net.
And when Chelsea were readying their armory to launch an attack on Palace’s goal. The Eagles went ahead on the 11 minutes thanks to some fine one-two between Zaha and Benteke. Benteke neatly chipped the ball over Courtois to make it 2-1 for the visiting team. Benteke has been a revelation for Palace this season. This was his 10 premier league goal in the current campaign. And not many have been sweeter.
As soon as Chelsea fell behind, they immediately shifted gears and took hold of the match. After that it was all Chelsea. But they failed to make any impact on the scoreline thanks to a combination of some resolute defending and poor finishing. And the Italian looks weary and perplexed on the sidelines. This was his first major setback since taking over Chelsea. Up until now, it has been all beautiful and sunny. But this defeat has brought Conte crashing down and he will have to immediately assess the situation and make amends.
Chelsea are still in a decent enough position to win the league. But with them losing this weekend and Spurs taking all three points the gap at the top has been sliced off to just 7 points. With the form that they are in, nobody expects Chelsea to drop these 7 points but the league as unpredictable as it is, can pull off any surprise.
