Chelsea Beats Crystal Palace to Extend Lead EPL at Christmas Day

Chelsea centre-forward Diego Costa scored our first headed goal of the season, and his 50th Chelsea goal overall, shortly before half-time, and that proved enough for a third 1-0 win in a row and a minimum six-point lead in the table going into Christmas.

It was by no means an easy win in this London derby however, as both sides maybe showed signs of tiredness at the end of a draining week. Thibaut Courtois had to make saves, although not as diffcult as the ones on Wednesday, and it was the Blues who came closest to scoring the game’s second goal when Marcos Alonso struck woodwork late on.

There is now an eight-day recovery period until we play again although there is an added complication for the Boxing Day game of no Diego Costa or N’Golo Kante for then, following bookings today. 

For this game at Selhurst Park, Eden Hazard was back from his one-game injury absence and Nemanja Matic also returned to the line up having started on the bench at Sunderland. Conte had indicated 24 hours earlier that this may be a game to rest odd players at the end of a busy week, and Pedro was among the subs this time so Willian started for the second game running. Cesc Fabregas returned to the bench.

The stage was set for the chance to put more pressure on our challenges as we kicked off the first Premier League game of the weekend, and early Chelsea pressure came down our left. There was hope of a chance inside 10 minutes when Kante was alert to intercepting Damien Delaney’s pass forward from the back but Hazard did not read our midfielder’s subsequent intentions.

Soon after, Kante was spoken to by the ref but the booking that means a suspension came later. There was however a yellow card shown to Palace full-back Joel Ward on 16 minutes when he took down Hazard just outside the area, following a smart back heel from Willian. That had been our best move yet, but David Luiz’s subsequent free-kick was deflected wide safely for the home team.

It was Palace who had the first real chance of the game, when Martin Kelly’s run into space wide on the right was spotted but his low cross was screwed wide by Jason Puncheon.

Midway through the half came the booking that does mean a Chelsea change at centre-forward for Bournemouth on Boxing Day. Diego Costa was carded for a trip so will serve the one-match ban he has for so long avoided.  

Chelsea were under a degree of pressure at this stage of the game, but Hazard was beginning to make his runs and Palace were resorting to giving away free-kicks to stop him.

Still the chances did not come however and the first half drifted on with regular interruptions for fouls from both sides. Chelsea did break well and finally won the game at full time.

Crystal Palace vs Chelsea Line ups

Chelsea made two changes to the lineup that won at Sunderland at midweek with the return of Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic to the team.

The have Thiabut Courtois in Goal, David Luiz, Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill in defence with Victor Moses, Nemanja Matic, N'Golo Kante, Marcos Alonso in midfield and William, Diego Costa and Eden Hazard in attack.

Chelsea coach Antonio Conte is determined to make it eleven straight wins with new formation of 3-5-3 and his strongest XI being fit for this lunch time encounter at Selhurst Park.

Also, Crystal Palace coach Alan Pardew has named his starting lineup for this game on 4-5-1 formation going into this game with Wayne Hennessey in goal, Joel Ward, Dimien Delaney Scott Dann and Martin Kelly in defence, Wilfred Zaha, James McArthur, Joe Ledley, Yohan Cabeye and Jason Puncheon in midfield and Christian Benteke as the lone forward.

The centre referee  for this match is Jon Moss and he would take charge of the proceedings.

 See you at Selhurst Park

Fabregas Puts Chelsea to Six Points Lead with Sunderland Win

Chelsea got their 10th consecutive win for Antonio Conte,  who have not been beaten in the league since a 3-0 defeat at Arsenal on 24 September.

If the Italian leads his side the to the Premier League crown, that slump in north London one Saturday afternoon will burnish his myth.

Trailing 3-0 at the pause, Conte switched to the formation that had been his bedrock while in charge of Juventus and then Italy.

Arsenal cruised through the second half and the tactical change went virtualy unnoticed as talk began about how long Conte had left in the job at Chelsea following successive defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal.

A couple of months later - and two Premier League manager of the month awards - the debate is more about how to frustrate Conte's all conquering innovation.

Manchester City should have stopped the juggernaut on 3 December at the Etihad. Pep Guardiola's men were leading 1-0 and had a glorious chance to make it 2-0. The opportunity was squandered and Chelsea hit back to win 3-1. A week earlier, Tottenham Hotspur led at Stamford Bridge but Pedro and Victor Moses struck to end the visitors' unbeaten start.

Since the victory over Manchester City, there have been two 1-0 wins. Hardly spectacular like the 5-0 and 4-0 home romps over Everton and Manchester United respectively but three points nonetheless.

"I am pleased for my players because they deserve this 10th victory for their commitment and work-rate every day, in every training session, during the game", Conte said. "Now for sure we have to continue.

A trip to south-east London on Saturday to take on Crystal Palace is in the offing. Eden Hazard, who missed the voyage to Sunderland, should be fit to return to the line-up.

On Wednesday night, it was one of the putative forgotten men who secured the victory. Fabregas has been one of the main casualties of Conte's 3-4-3 with the Italian preferring the shields of Nemanja Matic and N'Golo Kante in the middle rather than the Spain international's playmaking genius.

With Matic injured, Fabregas has entered and his renowned range of passing has posed a different set of problems for opponents relying on defence.

"The performance was really good and I felt we were very, very strong," said Fabregas after the game. "Now we want to keep winning. Hopefully we can continue like this and send out a strong message."

The 29-year-old former Arsenal and Barcelona star added: "People forget that it's only my second time in my career that I've played this system. My teammates have played it much more, but I'm getting used to it and feel very comfortable."

Home games against Bournemouth and Stoke over Christmas follow the match at Palace. "I prefer not to look at the top of the table," Conte said. "We are doing something important up to now, but the league doesn't finish today. There are still three games before the halfway stage of the season. And then another 19.

David Moyes, the Sunderland manager, is facing a fight for survival rather than glory. Sunderland are bottom after 16 games with 11 points. The safety of 17th place is four points away.

Moyes says he believes the strong showing against Chelsea offers hope. "We can come off saying we have had a right go at a top team," he said. "We got better in the second half and finished strongly. But didn't quite do enough to get something out of the game."

Moyes added: "Their keeper made two great saves. "You need a top keeper and a top striker and we have that here, but so have Chelsea and they are a real threat.

"It's too early to say if Chelsea will be champions. We restricted them to a few scoring opportunities but we couldn't stop them controlling the game."

Azpilicueta Signs New Chelsea Deal

Azpilicueta has signed a new deal with Chelsea football club and the club was delighted to announce the deal.

Since arrival in 2012, no player has impressed more so than Spanish defender Cesar Azpilicueta.

The talented defender has proven himself as a jack-of-all-trades, having played at right-back, left-back and centre-back since his arrival – and impressing in equal measure in each role.

Now, he has been rewarded for his fine form – with Chelsea confirming on their official websitethat the defender has signed a new long-term deal with the club.

The 3-and-a-half year deal will see Azpilicueta remain at the club until 2020 – which has absolutely delighted the Chelsea fans in attendance.

Discussing the deal, Azpi said: “This new contract gives me the chance to continue my relationship with the club, that’s what I wanted and obviously I’m really happy here”

Good news all round, then.

Our landlord thinks that this deal is a masterstroke by Chelsea. Azpilicueta rarely gets the headlines, but he is always stellar – and he will continue to be the main man in the defence for years to come.

Chelsea vs Tottenham Match Report

Chelsea kept hold of top spot in the Premier League after coming from behind to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening, ending the visitors' unbeaten run in the process.

Goals from Pedro and Victor Moses were enough to see off the spirited Tottenham Hotspur side.

Mauricio Pochettino's side opened the scoring after only 11 minutes thanks to Christian Eriksen's brilliant long-ranger - the first goal Chelsea had conceded in over 10 hours - only for Pedro to level just before half-time with his own sensational strike.

The home team claimed all three points when Victor Moses - making his seventh consecutive league start - slotted home after 51 minutes as they made it seven league wins in a row, their best run for six years.

As a result, Chelsea remain a point clear of second-placed Liverpool and third-in-the-table Manchester City, who both also won earlier in the day, while Spurs stay fifth and are now seven points behind their London rivals.

As expected, Blues boss Antonio Conte named an unchanged starting line-up for the sixth successive top-flight match, although captain John Terry was ruled out with a muscular injury.

Referee Michael Oliver deserves praise for his part in the goal, with the official playing an excellent advantage in the immediate lead-up to the Dane's strike after a foul on Son Heung-min.

The ball broke kindly to Eriksen towards the left-hand edge of the area, with the playmaker then beating Thibaut Courtois with a well-struck left-footed effort for his first goal of the season after his 39th attempt of the campaign.

And if anything in the first period, it looked as though it was Chelsea, rather than Spurs, who had had a tough Champions League exertion on the road in midweek.

However, the Blues gradually worked their way into proceedings and drew level in the final minute of the half through a sublime strike from Pedro, who picked the ball up on the edge of the area and after an exquisite Cruyff turn, the winger beat Hugo Lloris with an inch-perfect curler into the top right-hand corner of the net.

That goal could not have come at a better time for Conte's side, who marched off at the break in high spirits, and they maintained that spring in their step in the second half as Spurs wilted.

In fact, it took Chelsea only six minutes of the second half to go in front for the first time, with Diego Costa playing an integral role as the muscular Brazil-born striker broke clear to the left-hand byline, before pulling the ball back for the unmarked Moses to score, despite Jan Vertonghen's presence on the line.

Thereafter, Chelsea controlled the temp of the match as Tottenham's trip to the South of France on Tuesday appeared to finally catch up with them, with Marcos Alonso missing a great chance to kill off their rivals after side-footing over from close range minutes after Moses's strike.

That miss, though, was not to prove costly as Chelsea easily held on to their lead in the final quarter of the game as the visitors' 26-year wait for a league win at the Bridge continues.

Chelsea beats Liverpool at Anfield to maintain lead

Jose Mourinho Chelsea team maintained their seasons 100% record at Anfield by beating Liverpool.

Goals from Gary Cahill and Diego Costa cancelled Liverpool's early lead from Emre Can in the 9th minute and completes Mourinho's masterstroke at Anfield in 2014.

 Cahill scored in the 14th minute to make it 1 - 1 only for Costa to net the winner in the 67th minute.

This time there was no need for José Mourinho to worry unduly about Chelsea’s opponents. Liverpool, to put it bluntly, do not inspire that kind of trepidation any more and Chelsea could dismantle them without any complaints about their methods.
Chelsea did have to withstand some late pressure and Liverpool have legitimate grievances about that moment, after 87 minutes, when Gary Cahill blocked a Gerrard shot with his hand.

The referee, Anthony Taylor, was guilty of missing a clear penalty but Rodgers was stretching the truth when he tried to argue a draw would have been an accurate assessment of how the contest went. The truth is that Chelsea were the more rounded side for at least three-quarters of the game.

 Ramires was introduced just before the hour mark while Didier Drogba and Filipe lius were introduced on the 90th minute to hold on the time at Anfield.

 They played with control and know-how, with Nemanja Matic outstanding in midfield and Cesc Fàbregas only marginally subdued by Jordan Henderson’s man-marking. Fàbregas,


Post match interview with Mourinho revealed afterwards, that Fabregas had played despite a hamstring injury and may now miss a couple of matches. The same applies to Ramires, with a groin problem.

 “They were really in trouble but they put themselves there for the team,” Mourinho said. It typified the spirit of his side.

The match ended Liverpool 1 Chelsea 2

Chelsea vs QPR Highlight

            Chelsea beats QPR to remain on top of the English Premiership table                         

Chelsea vs QPR