Chelsea had the perfect start to their Premier League campaign for 21/22, dispatching Crystal Palace 3-0 in Patrick Vieira’s first game in charge.
Marcos Alonso scored the first goal for Chelsea, after curling in a picture-perfect free-kick. Guaita did not move as the Spaniard shot past him and gave Chelsea the lead. His goal was followed up by Christian Pulisic, who netted from close range shortly before halftime to double the Blues’ lead.
The European Champions were on the front foot throughout the opening 45 minutes, and barely let Palace launch any attacks. Following the break as well, Chelsea dominated possession and controlled the pace of the game. Palace had a few openings but nothing meaningful came about from their attempts to build an attack.
In contrast to Chelsea’s 13 shots in total, the Eagles only managed 4 attempts with 1 on target. The possession ratio at the end of the game was 63:37, clearly signifying Chelsea’s monopoly over the ball.
Trevoh Chalobah enjoyed a dream Premier League debut outing. He not only helped the team keep a clean sheet whilst operating alongside Christensen and Rudiger, but also scored a fantastic goal from outside the box to score the last goal of the game.
Chalobah was Chelsea’s best player during their Super Cup victory, and is now included in their Premier League squad as well. After such a great start, we can expect him to be a mainstay for Thomas Tuchel’s team since he is very confident with the ball at his feet, and is extremely good defensively as well.
