Madueke gave Chelsea a long-suffering victory from a penalty

Nordi Mukiele was the unexpected star of Chelsea’s victory in the London derby against Crystal Palace (2-1). Mauricio Pochettino It was he who brought him on when his team were at their most confused and the player straight out of the ‘eagles’ youth team was determined to secure the three points at Stamford Bridge by stirring up and scoring a penalty goal in the 89th minute. .

Chelsea suffered to add their third successive league victory at home. Again he showed both sides. Devastating with his vertical attacking play Christopher Nkunku’s first game as a starter, has recovered from his long knee injury in the preseason, but is fragile on defense. A weakness that contrasts with the goalkeeper’s solvency Djordje Petrović, another one of the keys to the game.

Nkunku made his debut as a starter

Pochettino went out with Nkunku and Ian Maatsen instead the suspended Carlton Palmer and Raheem Sterling, to join Chelsea’s long list of casualties. Moisés Caicedo reappears after missing the defeat against Wolverhampton on Christmas Eve (2-1) due to fever.

Palace came into the game better, but Chelsea escaped this initial harassment with their best weapon: quick and vertical attacks. So, Tyrick Mitchell prevented Nkunku from scoring between the sticks in a one-on-one with Dean Henderson and the Frenchman did not take long to make it 1-0 by opening on the left to Malo Gusto put in a ball that Mykhailo Mudryk pushed into the net (13′).

Olise connected after a defensive error

The Ukrainian made it 2-0 shortly after when he stood alone after combining with Nico Jackson, but Henderson avoided it with a brave exit. They were Chelsea’s best moments. Chris Richards prevented Nkunku from scoring another good chance by handling the ball from behind.

The ‘Blues’ were comfortable but a defensive mismatch led to a draw in first-half stoppage time. Jordan Ayew changed the game with a delivery towards Michael Olise, who had time to control his chest and shoot to the left on the short stick.

A bucket of cold water Chelsea endured until the second half. Palace came back into the game better and shut down the opposition’s passing routes with good pressure.

Petrovic keeps Chelsea at bay

Petrovic kept his team at bay by blocking Jean-Philippe Mateta’s shot after a fantastic run down the right. Pochettino decided to rest Nkunku and Mudryk, who melted like the rest of the teammates, and brought Madueke and Armando Broja (70′).

The Argentine was right as Chelsea reacted and Nico Jackson immediately had a good chance but, after only receiving Conor Gallagher, he narrowly missed a chipped shot past Henderson.

VAR removed Nico and gave Madueke

The former Villarreal player, who had been criticized for his lack of goals, seemed to redeem himself by first taking a cross from Thiago Silva into the net, but VAR removed it because it was offside.

Petrovic again decided on an Olise shot to make up for the loss of Thiago Silva before Eberechi Eze missed the chance on the counter where four visitors appeared against three defenders.

But this play came preceded by punishment from Eze in Madueke. The VAR alerted the referee, who after consulting the monitor decided on the maximum penalty. Madueke converted him and rewarded his contribution in reaction to this irregular Chelsea moving in the central zone of the Premier League.

CHELSEA

21

CRYSTAL PALACE

Chelsea: Petrovic; Gusto, Disasi, Badiashile (Gilchrist, 92′), Colwill (Thiago Silva, 58′); Moisés Caicedo, Gallagher; Maatsen (Lavia, 58′), Nkunku (Madueke, 71′), Mudryk (Broja, 71′); Nico Jackson
The
Crystal Palace: Henderson; Clyne, Andersen, Guéhi, Mitchell; Lerma (Matheus França, 90′), Chris Richards, Eze; Olise, Mateta, Jordan Ayew (Schlupp, 79′)
The
Goals: 1-0 Mudryk (13′), 1-1 Olise (46′), 2-1 Madueke (pen.) (89′)

Referee: Michael Salisbury. Yellow cards for Moisés Caicedo (52′), Chris Richards (73′), Madueke (80′), Mitchell (80′), Pochettino (95′), Gallagher (95′)

Attendance: 39,618 at Stamford Bridge

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