By Wellington Jopelo
Chelsea strengthened their push for a top-four finish with a 3–1 Premier League victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday, extending their unbeaten run against the Eagles to 18 straight meetings. The win lifts Chelsea into fourth place and deepens Palace’s struggles, with the hosts now winless in 11 consecutive competitive matches.
The visitors took control of the game in the 34th minute when Estêvão punished a misplaced pass from Jaydee Canvot, surged past Tyrick Mitchell and fired beyond Dean Henderson. Chelsea remained on the front foot and nearly doubled their lead before the break after Enzo Fernández’s awkward header inside his own box gifted Estêvão another opening, though the forward failed to capitalise.
Chelsea made their dominance count early in the second half. Just five minutes after the restart, Estêvão turned provider, setting up João Pedro, who cut inside Adam Wharton and calmly finished through Henderson’s legs to make it 2–0.
The game effectively slipped away from Palace soon after when Fernández converted from the penalty spot following a handball by Canvot from Pedro’s shot. Palace’s afternoon worsened as Wharton was sent off after picking up two yellow cards within five minutes for fouls on Moisés Caicedo, ruling him out of their next fixture against Nottingham Forest.
Palace pushed for a response late on, with Jefferson Lerma’s header brilliantly saved by Robert Sánchez in the 88th minute. Moments later, Chris Richards tapped in a consolation goal to give the home fans something to cheer, but it did little to change the outcome.
Chelsea saw out nine minutes of stoppage time to seal the win, marking another milestone for head coach Liam Rosenior, who became the first English manager since Steven Gerrard in 2021 to win his first two Premier League matches in charge.