Chelsea hang on at Crystal Palace to maintain Champions League push

This ought to have been rather easier for Chelsea. Against a Crystal Palace team with nothing to play for – neither Europe nor Premier League survival – they surged into a two-goal lead. At that point, the notion this derby would become nervy for Frank Lampard and his players felt outlandish. They were fluent on the ball and, in the quicksilver Christian Pulisic, who scored the second with a thunderous hit, they can boast one of the division’s in-form players. But the problem for Chelsea is that they must play both ways and, when they are defending, they can look altogether less secure. When Wilfried Zaha unleashed a firecracker than sizzled through Kepa Arrizabalaga, the under-pressure Chelsea goalkeeper, it was the prompt for a contest to break out – one that Lampard’s team would ultimately edge but only after dicing with disaster. Tammy Abraham, on as a substitute, had made it 3-1 with his first goal since 11 January only for Christian Benteke to respond immediately for Palace. Chelsea had the chances for 4-2, most notably through Abraham, who scuffed a shot when gloriously placed. But Chelsea were in no mood to make life easy for themselves, they appeared addicted to jeopardy and, during five minutes of stoppage-time, they almost paid the price. To Lampard’s frustration, Abraham lost the ball cheaply and, following a Zaha cross, Scott Dann thought he had scored with a towering header. Full report here