Crystal Palace 1-3 Chelsea: Late Gallagher & Enzo strikes seal stoppage time Blues comeback

Stoppage time Conor Gallagher and Enzo Fernandez strikes completed a 3-1 comeback for Chelsea over Crystal Palace on Monday night in the Premier League.

Conor Gallagher’s second half brace and Enzo Fernandez ensured Chelsea ended a run of two straight league defeats to ease the pressure on Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

It was a lethargic start from Chelsea and they were punished on the half hour mark with a stunning strike from Jefferson Lerma, who struck a delicious curling effort past a flying and helpless Djordje Petrovic to give the hosts the lead.

Mauricio Pochettino saw enough at the half-time interval and brought Noni Madueke off for Christopher Nkunku in the hope of turning the London derby around.

A quick start to the second half saw Conor Gallagher, a former Crystal Palace loanee, level the game for the Blues with a perfectly guided finish past Dean Henderson from a Malo Gusto cross.

The equaliser livened Chelsea up in south London. Cole Palmer was next to try his luck, but he was only able to fire his left-footed strike wide of Henderson’s goal.

Chelsea were forced into a change in the 60th minute due to another injury. Thiago Silva picked up a groin problem after completing his defensive duties. Levi Colwill came on for the veteran to line up alongside Axel Disasi.

It was a much-improved and purposeful performance from Chelsea in the second half as they looked for a winner. Ben Chilwell and Nicolas Jackson both went close heading into the final 20 minutes, but the pair were unable to find the target to trouble Henderson.

As Chelsea dominated, Palace still offered a threat going forward. Petrovic was called into action with 14 minutes to play to deny Matheus Franca’s powerful effort from distance with a strong save.

Raheem Sterling was introduced for Nicolas Jackson in an attacking attempt to claim all three points, with pressure mounting on Pochettino and his side following the Premier League defeat to Wolves last weekend.

Gusto, who was arguably Chelsea’s best player of the evening, was forced off and replaced by Alfie Gilchrist in the closing stages, which Pochettino will hope is not an injury problem ahead of their trip to Man City on Saturday evening.

Pochettino’s side, who were significantly improved in the second half, managed to steal all three points at the death through Gallagher, who fired past Henderson into the bottom corner and headed towards the jubilant travelling support.

Enzo Fernandez sealed the victory with a finish from close range, sitting Daniel Muñoz on the floor and firing past Henderson.

A relieving win for Chelsea on the road, but it’s Man City next for Chelsea and should Pochettino’s side perform the way they did in the opening 45 minutes at the Etihad, the current Premier League holders could run riot in Manchester.

Questions will continue to be asked of Pochettino ahead of a massive couple of weeks for the Blues – a Carabao Cup final and a FA Cup fifth round tie await.