What a difference a year makes. Last December 17, Chelsea sacked Jose Mourinho midway through a calamitous season that would end with a £70.4m loss and without European football as their star striker Diego Costa scored just 12 goals.
This December 17, a near-identical group of players marched to a club-record-equalling 11th consecutive league victory, courtesy of Costa’s deftly-taken header, which just happened to equal last season’s entire league total. This morning they will have woken up nine points ahead of second-placed Liverpool and, fickle finger of footballing fate notwithstanding, they give every impression of steamrolling their way to the title. Three more victories and they will equal Arsenal’s record of 14 consecutive wins, set over two seasons in 2002.
“The manager must be a tailor,” mused Antonio Conte, Chelsea’s chief outfitter. “It’s a question of finding the right fit. It wasn’t easy to find my players’ characteristics before I changed formation. I am not a stats man though. I want the future to be special and the only way is work, work, work.”
It wasn’t quite straightforward. Crystal Palace peered through the South London morning mist into the abyss of a ghastly calendar year which has given them just six league victories. Second best, but not second rate, they did not disgrace themselves, without looking likely to beat Thibaut Courtois.
“We’ve got to get some points on the board, but we’ve had some difficult home fixtures this season,” declared Alan Pardew, the Palace manager. “My team tried everything today, but they were too strong defensively and their great players played well.”
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Unflappable and unhurried, Chelsea prodded and poked, but they found Palace snapping at their heels like a pack of irritating dogs. With Wayne Hennessey unemployed in the early stages, Palace eked out the contest’s first real chance when the unmarked Jason Puncheon scuffed Martin Kelly’s low cross wide, and soon Costa gave himself Boxing Day off when, after not being booked in the league since September, he received his fifth yellow card of the season for a silly, frustrated hack at Joe Ledley. “A pity,” mused Conte. “He’s in good form.”
Palace’s intentions were good, but the wily predator invariably takes advantage and when Chelsea finally summoned up a meaningful attack from the Stygian depths of their resolve, they won it. The majestic Eden Hazard drifted in unchallenged from Chelsea’s left just ahead of the centre circle. He sprayed the ball to Cesar Azpilicueta, who strode forwards and crossed deep to the back post. Costa leapt from in-between the concrete-booted Kelly and Scott Dann to loop a perfectly judged header home, his sixth goal in eight games. One chance, one goal, three points. Such is life for those at the top and the bottom.
“The disappointing part was that we gave Azpilicueta too much space,” lamented Pardew, “but we didn’t expect him to put a cross like that in.”
Palace’s failings may be legion and their struggle to accommodate Christian Benteke has the weary air of an increasingly Sisyphean task, but their two wingers, Puncheon and Wilfried Zaha, intermittently stretched Chelsea’s back three. Moreover, their doughtiness is beyond question and soon after the restart they hurried forwards again, Yohan Cabaye bringing a smart save from Courtois. Soon N’Golo Kante found his Boxing Day would be free, too, after he scythed through Puncheon.
Slowly, inexorably, Chelsea seized control as Palace saw no way through and wilted. White shirts swamped red and blue ones and, blossoming the more the game went on, Kante closed down anything loose. Hennessey pawed aside Marco Alonso’s thunderbolt and best of all foiled Cesc Fabregas from close range. Even so, he was powerless when Alonso curled a free kick over Palace’s wall on its way to rattling the crossbar.
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Typically, Pardew took Micawber-esque solace from potential doom. “My message to the team is that we can improve, while keeping the same commitment. We’ll have a good year next year.”
Star man: N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)