Kante seals routine win for Chelsea

Sarri's side closed the gap at the top of the table by virtue of a sole strike from N'Golo Kante, as Crystal Palace struggled to set off at Selhurst Park.

Often renowned for his defensive prowess, the Frenchman stepped up once more for his side, to seal all three points away from home in this derby clash. Kante broke into the Palace box early in the second half, rounded two defenders, and slotted home on the half volley to give his side a much deserved lead.

Chelsea had been the better side for the majority of the encounter. The first half statistics are a testament to that fact; 'The Blues' had 65% possession to Palace's 35%, and had nine times as many efforts on goal. Nevertheless, their dominance would not pay dividends before the interval. Olivier Giroud thought that he had opened the scoring mid-way through the first half, but he was to be denied by the linesman's flag. A great shame, as the Frenchman's wicked volley could have been a contender for the goal of the season had it counted.

Then, a flurry of Chelsea attacks seemed certain to attain a breakthrough. First Willian unleashed a great free kick at goal, then when that effort was denied, Ross Barkley went close with an acrobatic shot from the resulting corner. The Englishman this time was denied by the upright, as the ball would eventually fall out of bounds. Finally, a quick move down the left put striker Giroud in on goal once more. But again, the play was called back for offside.

The second half of the encounter was almost identical to the first. Chelsea were in the ascendancy, but could not break through a resilient Palace rearguard. Well, that was until Kante's ingenuity saw him find and take advantage of a rare glimpse of goal. Again, Olivier Giroud had the ball in the net, but another superb solo goal was denied by an offside ruling. Sadly for the Frenchman, that was where his afternoon ended, as he picked up an injury, to add his name to the casualty list at Stamford Bridge.

The hosts did muster some fight towards the end of the match, Substitutions of Meyer and Wickham added some presence and threat up front. However, in truth, in spite of a flurry of half chances, visiting stopper Kepa was never really tested all afternoon.

All in all, it was rather a routine win for Chelsea, as they  got back on track after an inconsistent run of form in recent weeks.