Chelsea rally to beat Palace and boost European bid

Conor Gallagher scored a brace against his former club as Chelsea came from behind to defeat Crystal Palace 3-1 on Monday and keep their European hopes alive.

The hosts, who are still in danger of relegation, took the lead in the first half when Jefferson Lerma fired a long-range shot into the top corner.

Chelsea, who are chasing a top-seven finish, equalised shortly after the restart when Gallagher smashed home Malo Gusto’s cross. The Leicester City loanee then added his second of the night in stoppage time with a low drive from the edge of the box.

Enzo Fernandez completed the scoring for the visitors with a cool finish after being set up by Cole Palmer.

Palace were missing their star trio of Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise and Marc Guehi due to injuries and their fans expressed their discontent with the club’s management before the game.

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Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino was unhappy with his team’s performance in the first 45 minutes, but praised their improvement in the second half. Chelsea suffered a blow when Thiago Silva limped off with a groin injury that could rule him out of the League Cup final against Liverpool.

This win moves Chelsea up to 10th, two points behind seventh. Palace remained 15th, five points above the drop zone.