Chelsea 3-1 Crystal Palace: 5 Talking Points

#2 Palace conjure a reaction but were swept aside in the end

Townsend's equalizer failed to spark anything substantial for the visitors

Roy Hodgson's men were dogged in their approach during the first half and were happy to sit back and concede possession as Chelsea slowly secured the upper hand despite being sluggish inside the final third. The Eagles wouldn't have ideally wanted to concede that goal in the first half, but they managed to rally themselves and respond well during the initial stages after the half-time interval.

The visitors forced Chelsea onto the back foot and made the best use of a lapse in concentration from them to restore parity between the two sides when Andros Townsend ran at the defenders before slotting the ball past Kepa Arrizabalaga.

However, that would amount to nothing as Chelsea restored their one-goal cushion just 12 minutes later through Morata's neat finish from a set-piece before Pedro added the killer blow in the 70th minute to put the result beyond any doubt.

It is true that you get what you pay for and the gulf in class between the two sides stood out glaringly in the end since Chelsea secured maximum points despite not being at their destructive best for the majority of the game.