The question remains whether anyone can stop Antonio Conte’s Chelsea side although if they are to make it to 12 straight wins on Boxing Day they will have to do so without Diego Costa, once again the match-winner against Crystal Palace.
The striker scored the game’s only goal at the end of the first half in another commanding performance from Chelsea in which they limited what attacking aspirations Alan Pardew’s side had, in the first half in particular. Costa was booked for the fifth time this season, and so too midfielder N’Golo Kante which means both are suspended for the Dec 26 home game against Bournemouth.
The cynical view is that perhaps Conte believed he could spare them for that game which, if Chelsea won, would see them within two games of Arsenal’s Premier League record of 14 straight wins in 2002. At full-time Chelsea were nine points clear at the top of the table and with Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic back in the side they look as unbreakable as ever.
It was not a disastrous performance from Palace but aside from two first half chances that were missed they barely laid a glove on Chelsea. Costa’s headed goal came right at the end of a solid half from the home side and after the break they found it hard put Conte’s team under sustained pressure.
They had been doing a decent job of it until one minute before the end of the regulation 45, when Palace permitted Hazard to raise his head and stroke a pass into the stride of Cesar Azpilicueta on the right side and suddenly the home team were in trouble.
Palace were retreating quick but nowhere near quick enough for Scott Dann to be able to get into position to challenge Costa who was waiting for the ball in front of him from Azpilicueta. When it came, Dann could barely turn himself round in time to see Costa flight his header over Wayne Hennessey and into the far corner of the Palace goal.
Before then Pardew’s 4-1-4-1 formation – no concession from him to switch a three-man defence– had done enough to stifle Chelsea in midfield and Palace had made two good chances of their own. Both came down Chelsea’s left side and both were crossed from Martin Kelly, the first volleyed wide by Jason Puncheon and the second headed wide by James McArthur.
In the second half it was Chelsea who created the better chances and Marcos Alonso struck the bar with a free-kick. With five minutes of time added on at the end, Palace roused themselves for one last effort but a free-kick skied by substitute Andros Townsend was a fair indication of how little they had threatened the Chelsea goal.
