Chelsea moved back into the Premier League top four as Christian Pulisic scored twice in an impressive 4-1 win against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Liverpool’s dramatic 2-1 win over Aston Villa earlier on Saturday had squeezed Thomas Tuchel’s side out to sixth prior to kick-off, but Kai Havertz struck inside eight minutes to ease any fears of another set-back following last weekend’s 5-2 defeat at home to West Brom.
Chelsea doubled their lead just two minutes later when Havertz turned provider for Pulisic to rifle in a quickfire second and Kurt Zouma extended the visitors’ lead when he headed in his fifth goal of the season.
Palace had offered very little, but found a route back into the game when Christian Benteke headed in at the far post in the 63rd minute, but Pulisic capped a routine win for Chelsea from close range as Tuchel’s men responded in this absorbing race to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
“[Kai Havertz] maybe should’ve scored more, he had more chances,” Tuchel told BBC Sport. “He can still improve his hunger and determination.
“He has outstanding quality. He’s not the leader of this team and he doesn’t have to be. He had excellent runs and he could’ve scored more.”
Chelsea suffered the first bump in the road of Tuchel’s managerial tenure last weekend, with West Brom’s shock win.
Wednesday’s 2-0 victory over Porto in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final washed away some of the negativity from that result, putting them in a great position to reach the last four.
And they completed the job with this one-sided display that puts them back in the English top-flight top four, ahead of Liverpool and West Ham, who will replace them if they win their game in hand at home to Leicester on Sunday.
They had full control of the game before the 11th minute and sealed the win through a display packed with neat, precision passing, effective high pressing and clinical finishing.
Keeping up such a relentless display throughout the game was always unlikely, but even when Palace were able to muster something to hurt them, the Blues always had a higher gear to click into.
Palace started the game aiming for a fourth successive top-flight clean sheet at home for the first time since 1992. They spent the majority of the game simply trying to keep the scoreline respectable.
With 38 points, 12 more than 18th-placed Fulham, Roy Hodgson’s side will not be going down this season but the ex-England boss will want to see his side compete better over their remaining fixtures.
Palace remain in 13th place on 38 points.
