n n n ‘. concat(e. i18n. t(“search. voice. recognition_retry”),’n
Noni Madueke converted an 89th-minute penalty as Chelsea battled to a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace in their final home match of 2023.
The Blues went into the match closer to the bottom of the table than the top four in terms of points, and looking to avoid an extraordinary 20th Premier League defeat of the calendar year.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side picked up a well-deserved win, extending their unbeaten run at home to six games in all competitions and propelled them to tenth place in the standings at mid-season.
It was a promising start to the night for Les Bleus as Christopher Nkunku, making his full debut, passed the ball to Malo Gusto, who saw Mykhailo Mudryk and the Ukrainian in hand to send an early shot past Dean Henderson.
ItArray, however, managed a lead that Chelsea relinquished in stoppage time late in the first half, when a sluggish defence punished mercilessly. Jordan Ayew sent a ball to the far post, where Michael Olise came absolutely loose to bring it down with his first touch and finish with his second.
There was very little to get the home fans excited in the second-half, with plenty to leave them frustrated as the Blues failed to offer a serious threat in attack.
That was until Nicolas Jackson missed a great opportunity to put his team back in front, only to score wide while clearing the goal, and although the striker had the ball in the net minutes later, he did so properly. Through VAR for offside.
Chelsea’s frustration continued until the very end, when Noni Madueke fell to a tackle from Eberechi Eze. Play was stopped but, after consulting with the court monitor, the referee reversed his initial decision to signal the point. Madueke had the peace of mind to send Henderson. Thus, Chelsea won the Premier League at home for the sixth time in 2023.