Chelsea continued their dominance over Crystal Palace with a 3-1 Premier League win at Selhurst Park on Sunday, marking their 18th straight unbeaten meeting with the Eagles.
The Blues opened the scoring in the 34th minute when Estêvão capitalised on a misplaced pass from Jaydee Canvot, sprinted past Tyrick Mitchell, and slotted the ball past Dean Henderson.
Palace nearly responded when Fernández’s header in his own box set up another chance for Estêvão, but he was unable to convert.
Chelsea doubled their lead early in the second half. Just five minutes after the restart, Estêvão set up João Pedro, who cut inside Adam Wharton and curled the ball through Henderson’s legs.
Fernández then scored from the penalty spot after Canvot handled Pedro’s shot, giving Chelsea a commanding 3-0 lead. Palace’s troubles worsened when Adam Wharton picked up two yellow cards in five minutes for fouls on Moisés Caicedo, ruling him out of their next match against Nottingham Forest. Late on, Jefferson Lerma’s header was saved by Sánchez, but Chris Richards tapped in a consolation goal to give the home fans something to cheer.
Chelsea held on through nine minutes of stoppage time to secure the victory, moving up to fourth in the Premier League under Liam Rosenior. The win made Rosenior the first English manager since Steven Gerrard in 2021 to win his first two top-flight matches in charge.
The result leaves Crystal Palace winless in 11 consecutive competitive games.
