Chelsea 1-0 Crystal Palace: Kai Havertz header earns important win for Blues
A thumping header from Kai Havertz earned Chelsea a narrow victory over Crystal Palace to ease the pressure on manager Graham Potter.
Havertz met Hakim Ziyech’s cross shortly after an hour as the Blues ended a run of three successive defeats in all competitions.
The Germany striker should have doubled Chelsea’s advantage but could only flash a header wide from close range from Mason Mount’s cross.
Palace came close to equalising late on when Cheick Doucoure’s long-range volley was spectacularly tipped over by Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Chelsea stay 10th despite the win, just their second in 10 Premier League games, but are now level on points with ninth-placed Liverpool.
Palace are 12th after a fifth defeat in six games in all competitions.
More to follow.
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Chelsea
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Squad number1Player nameArrizabalaga
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Squad number14Player nameChalobah
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Squad number6Player nameThiago Silva
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Squad number4Player nameBadiashile
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Squad number67Player nameHall
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Squad number23Player nameGallagher
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Squad number5Player nameJorginho
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Squad number22Player nameZiyech
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Squad number30Player nameChukwuemeka
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Squad number19Player nameMount
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Squad number29Player nameHavertz
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Squad number8Player nameKovacic
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Squad number9Player nameAubameyang
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Squad number26Player nameKoulibaly
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Squad number28Player nameAzpilicueta
Crystal Palace
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Squad number13Player nameGuaita
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Squad number17Player nameClyne
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Squad number16Player nameAndersen
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Squad number6Player nameGuéhi
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Squad number3Player nameMitchell
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Squad number28Player nameDoucouré
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Squad number15Player nameSchlupp
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Squad number9Player nameJ Ayew
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Squad number7Player nameOlise
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Squad number10Player nameEze
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Squad number11Player nameZaha
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Squad number5Player nameTomkins
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Squad number14Player nameMateta
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Squad number19Player nameHughes
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Squad number22Player nameÉdouard
Line-ups
Chelsea
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Arrizabalaga
- 14Chalobah
- 6Thiago Silva
- 4Badiashile
- 67HallSubstituted forKoulibalyat 78′minutes
- 23GallagherBooked at 84mins
- 5JorginhoBooked at 49mins
- 22ZiyechSubstituted forKovacicat 89′minutes
- 30ChukwuemekaSubstituted forAubameyangat 63′minutes
- 19Mount
- 29HavertzSubstituted forAzpilicuetaat 89′minutes
Substitutes
- 8Kovacic
- 9Aubameyang
- 12Loftus-Cheek
- 13Bettinelli
- 26Koulibaly
- 27Fofana
- 28Azpilicueta
- 32Cucurella
- 42Humphreys
Crystal Palace
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 13Guaita
- 17ClyneBooked at 42mins
- 16AndersenSubstituted forTomkinsat 38′minutes
- 6GuéhiBooked at 88mins
- 3Mitchell
- 28DoucouréBooked at 26mins
- 15SchluppSubstituted forHughesat 69′minutesBooked at 83mins
- 9J AyewSubstituted forMatetaat 69′minutes
- 7Olise
- 10EzeBooked at 52minsSubstituted forÉdouardat 69′minutes
- 11Zaha
Substitutes
- 2Ward
- 4Milivojevic
- 5Tomkins
- 14Mateta
- 19Hughes
- 21Johnstone
- 22Édouard
- 26Richards
- 77Ozoh
Live Text
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Match ends, Chelsea 1, Crystal Palace 0.
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Second Half ends, Chelsea 1, Crystal Palace 0.
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Attempt blocked. James Tomkins (Crystal Palace) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
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Corner, Crystal Palace. Conceded by Benoît Badiashile.
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Attempt saved. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Chelsea) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
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Foul by Jorginho (Chelsea).
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Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Substitution, Chelsea. César Azpilicueta replaces Kai Havertz.
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Substitution, Chelsea. Mateo Kovacic replaces Hakim Ziyech.
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Attempt missed. Odsonne Édouard (Crystal Palace) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Michael Olise with a cross following a corner.
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Marc Guéhi (Crystal Palace) is shown the yellow card.
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Corner, Crystal Palace. Conceded by Trevoh Chalobah.
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Attempt blocked. Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is blocked. Assisted by Cheick Oumar Doucouré.
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Corner, Crystal Palace. Conceded by Kepa Arrizabalaga.
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Attempt saved. Cheick Oumar Doucouré (Crystal Palace) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner.
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Attempt blocked. Cheick Oumar Doucouré (Crystal Palace) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
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Conor Gallagher (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Foul by Conor Gallagher (Chelsea).
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Nathaniel Clyne (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Will Hughes (Crystal Palace) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
