John Terry's own goal in Saturday's English Premier League fixture away to Crystal Palace at the Selhurst Park has put Chelsea on the back foot in the race for the tittle challenge.
The defender headed in Joel Ward's cross past goalkeeper Petr Cech in the 52nd minute under pressure from Eagles midfielder Joe Ledley.
Chelsea failed to get back into the game as they miss chance after chance and Palace continued to pile the pressure to earn a much-needed victory.
Chelsea who came into the match sitting a point ahead of second placed Liverpool now looks set to loose their position at the summit of the table if Liverpool wins.
After a quiet opening to the game, Andre Schurrle squandered the first genuine opening in the 18th minute, prodding the ball wide from four yards after stretching to reach Cesar Azpilicueta's low cross at the back post.
The hosts had a chance of their own eight minutes later, Yannick Bolasie struggling to control a fizzing Jason Puncheon delivery before poking his effort into the side netting.
Palace then had two penalty shouts waved away in as many minutes as first Cameron Jerome tumbled under a challenge from Nemanja Matic before Bolasie pleaded with referee Lee Mason following a sliding tackle from Gary Cahill.
Terry scored at the wrong end shortly after the interval, heading Ward's cross beyond Cech at the near post under pressure from Ledley.
Chelsea almost levelled immediately, Julian Speroni diving full length to his left to keep out Eden Hazard's curling effort from the edge of the area.
As the game became more open, Puncheon's left-foot shot went narrowly wide of the post in the 62nd minute, before Terry nodded Oscar's free-kick just over the crossbar 60 seconds later.
Speroni was the hero once again 17 minutes from time, producing an incredible close-range save from Hazard to deny the Belgian what looked a certain goal, before Palace broke straight down the other end, only for Jerome to strike the outside of the post.
Ledley twice went close for the hosts in the final stages, but it mattered little as Palace held on for a surprise win to send Selhurst Park into raptures.
0 comments:
Post a Comment