This was the day when Tuchel-ball finally clicked into gear for Chelsea. Despite an impressive string of results, before yesterday they had failed to score more than two goals in any of their 16 games under their German head coach. The four they managed at Selhurst Park did not flatter them at all — they could have had more.
Mason Mount was his normal excellent self, but probably more encouraging for Chelsea fans was that Kai Havertz, the attacking midfielder who had been misfiring since his £71 million move from Bayer Leverkusen in September, was an integral part of the victory, scoring Chelsea’s first with an exquisite curling shot and then setting up the second for Christian Pulisic.
Kurt Zouma’s towering header on 30 minutes for Chelsea’s third meant the game was all but over in the first half, and though Christian Benteke pulled a goal back in a rare bright spell for the home side in the second half, Pulisic’s second strike 12 minutes from the end produced a scoreline that was an accurate reflection of Chelsea’s dominance.
“Kai will never be our emotional leader but we expect him to show his quality,” said Thomas Tuchel, who admitted his fellow German had another tough game against Porto in the Champions League in midweek. “He got a second chance to show that he could do better than he did against Porto. There’s room for improving — with his finishing he needs to be more ruthless and he could have scored more, but it was a good step.”
Palace set up defending with two narrow lines of four but were ripped apart by Chelsea’s movement and the ability of their wing backs to find space down the flanks. On seven minutes, Mount whipped in a wicked low cross that was met by Pulisic, whose first-time shot was well saved by Vicente Guaita. Mount wasn’t standing back admiring his handiwork and as Palace attempted to clear the danger he retrieved the ball and fed Callum Hudson-Odoi. From there, Havertz dribbled into the penalty area and, from an acute angle, placed the ball perfectly into the far corner of the net.
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Two minutes later Palace were still under the German’s spell as he fed the ball through to Pulisic, who this time went for sheer power, beating Guaita at his near post.
Havertz provided more delights when he pulled down a pass from Mount and flicked the ball over the head of Gary Cahill. The volley that followed was Dennis Bergkamp-esque but Guaita saved brilliantly, diving low to his right.
Palace were not at the races, with Wilfried Zaha cutting a particularly ineffective and frustrated figure as he was swarmed by opponents every time he got the ball. It got worse for the home side when Mount’s free kick was placed expertly on to the head of Zouma, who powerfully steered the ball into the net.
Palace breathed some life into the game as a contest in the second half when Jeffrey Schlupp, freshly on as a substitute on the hour mark, found some space down the left and his cross was headed in by Benteke. As Palace went looking for a second and committed more bodies forward, they presented a chance to Havertz, whose low shot was saved by Guaita, and Gary Cahill then blocked a low shot by Mount.
Palace were finally killed off when Pulisic scored his second, getting on the end of a deflected Reece James cross to slide the ball in. “It was a chastening experience,” Roy Hodgson, the Palace manager, said. “We lost the game in the first half and Chelsea deserved to be three goals up so early.”
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Star man Mason Mount (Chelsea).
Crystal Palace (4-4-2): V Guaita 7 — J Ward 5, C Kouyaté 5, G Cahill 6, P Van Aanholt 5 — J Ayew 5 (A Townsend 76 5), L Milivojevic 5, J Reidewald 4 (J McCarthy 59 5), E Eze 4 (J Schlupp 59 6) — C Benteke 5, W Zaha 4. Booked Kouyaté.
Chelsea (3-4-3): E Mendy 6 — C Azpilecueta 7, K Zouma 7, A Rudiger 7 — C Hudson-Odoi 7 (R James 76 6), Jorginho 7 (N Kanté 69 6), M Kovacic 8 (H Ziyech 83 6), B Chilwell 8 — M Mount 8, K Havertz 8, C Pulisic 8.
Referee M Oliver.
