Chelsea scramble to 2-1 victory over Palace

Chelsea picked up a valuable 2-1 win over Crystal Palace as a deflected Willian strike and a calamitous Martin Kelly own-goal gave the Blues only a second league victory in six.

The Blues could have been out of sight before the break had Olivier Giroud added to their two goals (25 and 32), but he was denied by a goal-line clearance by James Tomkins, before striking a post after the break.

Sky Sports reports that Palace improved immeasurably thanks to the half-time return of Wilfried Zaha from a long-term injury and saw Alexander Sorloth hammer against the woodwork, before his seemingly legitimate late goal was chalked off for a foul in the build-up.

The Eagles did pull one back in the final minute when Patrick van Aanholt slotted beyond Thibault Courtois from close-range, but Chelsea hung on to move back within two points of fourth-placed Spurs.