Chelsea break 118-year record with late win at Crystal Palace

A positive one for once

As they went in to the dressing rooms at Selhurst Park at half time one goal down, fans, players and staff must've been thinking 'ah s**t, here we go again'.

Instead we saw something that Chelsea have lacked of late... bottle.

Conor Gallagher has been one of the few shining lights this season and brought his side level almost immediately after break, connecting with a brilliant ball in from Malo Gusto to level the tie.

Chelsea grew in confidence and their dominance paid off as Gallagher drilled a low effort past Dean Henderson in stoppage time to put Mauricio Pochettino's side in front before Enzo Fernandez sealed the deal with a cool finish.

It was another much-needed win that followed on from their 3-1 victory against Aston villa in the FA Cup last week as they moved back into 10th spot.

Chelsea create history

Any record-breaking feat of late has usually been buried in the sand and forgotten about by Chelsea but for once, there's actually been a positive record that's been broken.

Having beaten Palace for the 13th time in a row, Chelsea have gone on to break a 118-year-old record and is the first time in the club's entire history they have won that amount of league matches in a row against the same side.

Palace collapse leaves Hodgson on the brink

As the game entered stoppage time, it was hard not to say that a point wouldn't be the worst result in the world for Palace but on Roy Hodgson's 200th game in charge, a tale all too familiar happened as the Eagles capitulated.

Monday's result was a third defeat in four games - which has included heavy losses to Arsenal and rivals Brighton - for the South London outfit, who are now just five points clear of the relegation zone.

Despite calls for Hodgson to leave, his touchline counterpart has backed him to turn it around.

Pochettino told Sky Sports: "Roy is my friend. I admire him — he’s an unbelievable coach. I think he’s working really well. There is always pressure in football when you lose one or two games, but no doubt he is going to be successful with Palace."

Related links: