Conor Gallagher chases down Crystal Palace by saving Chelsea's latest victory | first division

This must have been like a punch in the gut for Roy Hodgson. In his 200th game in charge, crystal Palace They succumbed to a 13th consecutive Premier League defeat to Chelsea after two goals from Conor Gallagher sealed a dramatic late comeback for Mauricio Pochettino's side.

It was the cruelest blow for a coach who has already suffered greatly this season as his team battled injuries and a poor run that now extends to two wins in their last 14 games. But while things won't get any easier for Hodgson as his under-pressure side prepare for a trip to Everton, a club they haven't beaten in their last seven attempts and currently occupy the bottom relegation spot, it was a different story. for Pochettino's team. and they took the points in added time with a third from Enzo Fernández.

That capped an incredible turnaround after a first half in which Chelsea He reached new depths by failing to take a single shot on goal despite dominating the ball and conceding the first goal to a lightning bolt from Jefferson Lerma. At least they can always rely on Gallagher, who scored eight goals while on loan at Palace and now has four in six games against them.

Hodgson had described Palace's current situation as “the most difficult period of my career for a reason, and that's because the fans have turned so against us.” So a series of banners held up by home fans as the teams kicked off, one of which took aim at the club's “weak culture and management”, wasn't exactly what he needed.

The main criticism of the 76-year-old manager has been his unwillingness to give Palace's young players a chance, but on this occasion, Matheus França and Adam Wharton epitomized his fighting spirit in their full debuts that had the crowd in stitches. his side. Pochettino opted to start Cole Palmer as a false 9 with Nicolas Jackson operating on the left flank, while Gallagher was back on the pitch where he enjoyed so much success on loan two seasons ago. Not that it seemed to make much difference to Chelsea's attack, with neither team looking capable of raising the temperature on a cold night in south London.

Thirteen of Palace's 26 league goals this season have been scored or created by the injured Eberechi Eze or Michael Olise, but Wharton showed his ability on his first full start since arriving from Blackburn with a low ball that almost touched the Jean-Philippe Mateta. The French striker should have done better when he stole the ball from Axel Disasi on a Chelsea throw-in, but he could only direct his shot straight at Djordje Petrovic.

If ever a game needed a boost, this was it and Lerma duly delivered. Tyrick Mitchell's resilience made it possible after a brilliant double tackle on Noni Madueke and Moisés Caicedo, although Chelsea were annoyed that Lerma had fouled the Ecuadorian midfielder before putting the ball into the net from 25 yards. Selhurst Park erupted in a rare moment of celebration against their London rivals after a losing streak stretching back to a 2-1 win here in October 2017, courtesy of a Wilfried Zaha winning goal.

Of course, he's long gone these days, but despite their patched-up squad, it was Palace who continued to pose the greater threat as a bemused Pochettino watched as his team created nothing. Almost 80% of the possession had resulted in precisely one shot (deflected wide by Gallagher) before the break. It could have been worse for Chelsea if the referee, Michael Oliver, had ruled against Thiago Silva after he appeared to push Daniel Muñoz into the area.

Both sets of fans joined in with a rendition of Bob Marley's Three Little Birds during a delayed start to the second half due to Oliver's technical issues. He seemed to breathe life into the Chelsea players as within 90 seconds, Gallagher had headed in a Malo Gusto cross to equalize and suddenly everything was right again. Something like.

With half-time substitute Christopher Nkunku in the foreground, Chelsea showed renewed attacking intent when Palmer deflected his shot from another Gusto cross. Mateta saw his shot following a França pass blocked by Silva following a late lunge from the Brazilian veteran that marked the end of his night's work.

Petrovic had to be alert to deflect a França shot from outside the area close to his post, while Palmer was unable to beat Dean Henderson from close range after an excellent exchange with Gusto. Mateta was denied a late penalty after falling under a challenge from Levi Colwill before Gallagher smashed his hammer into a Palmer pass in the first minute of stoppage time and Fernandez sent the jubilant Chelsea fans celebrating into the air. evening.