Chelsea got back to winning ways by beating Crystal Palace 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday in their Premier League encounter, writes DEAN WORKMAN.

With both teams desperate for the points, the game started in a cagey manner.

It was not until the 26th minute that the encounter opened up as Antonio Conte’s men broke the deadlock. The ball was played out to Chelsea’s in-form star, Willian, who made a dangerous run inside and took aim. His low-driven shot deflected off a Palace defender and flew into the bottom corner of Wayne Hennessey’s goal.

Then just five minutes later, the Blues had their second. Davide Zappacosta delivered a wicked cross which fell to Palace defender Martin Kelly. Unfortunately for Kelly, his clearance hit the back of Hennessey and rebounded into the back of his own net.

With no further chances at the Bridge, Conte’s men went into half-time 2-0 up.

Roy Hodgson’s men started the second half well and almost got a goal back on 46 minutes. Alexander Sørloth found space in the Chelsea box, but as he let fly, a diving N’Golo Kante got a slight block in, which deflected the ball on to the post.

Willian was proving to be a constant threat and could have had a hand in a number of Chelsea goals but due to a combination of bad finishing and poor defending, the Blues could not add to the scoreline.

The Eagles may have pulled a goal back through Patrick van Aanholt after Wilfried Zaha played him through on goal with a defence-splitting pass in the 90th minute, but it was too little too late.

It was 2-1 at full time as Conte’s men put themselves back into Champions League contention with a vital three points.

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