Match Report/Highlight: Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
deserved lead, Radamel Falcao looked to have
earned the host a share of the spoils when he
came off the bench to head home his maiden
goal for Jose Mourinho's men 11 minutes from
time.
However, Palace raced to the other end and
Ward's diving header subjected Chelsea to its
first home league defeat since April 2014 amid
some questionable defending.
And it was a thoroughly merited three points
for Alan Pardew's side, with Palace
having created the better opportunities for the
most part.
Aside from a Gary Cahill header, cleared off the
line by Sako shortly before his opener, Chelsea
struggled to break down the Palace defence,
although Alex McCarthy had to be at his best
to keep out Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas in
the latter stages of the first half.
After Falcao restored parity, Palace refused to
settle for a draw and Ward's winner maintained
Chelsea's unconvincing start to the defence of
its Premier League crown.
Cahill returned to the Chelsea starting XI in
place of the suspended John Terry, while
Crystal Palace brought Connor Wickham in for
Glenn Murray up front, and the centre-back
came under pressure early on as the visitor
started brightly.
Chelsea eventually settled and Pedro came
close to marking his home debut with a goal
when he fired just wide with a curling effort
after switching onto his left foot.
Kurt Zouma's half-hearted appeal for a penalty
after a tussle with Wickham went unrewarded,
before Sako drew a diving save from
goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois at the other end.
Palace continued to enjoy the better chances -
Yohan Cabaye missing a glorious
opportunity to break the deadlock just short of
the hour mark.
When the ball found Cabaye at the edge of the
box, the France international had the whole
goal to aim at but placed his effort too close to
a grateful Courtois.
A superb double save from McCarthy, denying
both Costa and Fabregas, kept Palace on level
terms just before the break, and Damien
Delaney made an excellent sliding tackle in the
box to thwart Costa early in the second period.
Yet there was panic in the Chelsea penalty area
when a cross from the right prompted a
desperate scramble to clear the danger, before
Wickham failed to get enough purchase on a
Sako delivery.
As Palace continued to threaten, Sako went for
goal in the 55th minute - Courtois getting down
well to his right to keep out a 20-yard strike.
Sako then had to clear a Cahill header from a
corner off the line but was on the scoresheet
himself little more than a minute later, showing
great composure in the box to lift the ball over
Courtois after his initial effort had
been blocked by Cesar Azpilicueta.
Yannick Bolasie curled over as Palace
threatened to double its advantage 15 minutes
from time, before Falcao lost his marker to
head in from a Pedro cross and seemingly
save Chelsea's blushes.
However, a Bolasie cross from the left
moments later found Sako in acres of space,
and the Mali international cut the ball back for
Ward to head home.
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