• Chelsea's Ben Chilwell, right, celebrates with Tammy Abraham after scoring the opening goal against Crystal Palace on Saturday, October 3. AP
    Chelsea's Ben Chilwell, right, celebrates with Tammy Abraham after scoring the opening goal against Crystal Palace on Saturday, October 3. AP
  • Kurt Zouma, No 15, heads home Chelsea's second goal at Stamford Bridge. Getty
    Kurt Zouma, No 15, heads home Chelsea's second goal at Stamford Bridge. Getty
  • Chelsea's Kurt Zouma, left, celebrates after scoring. AFP
    Chelsea's Kurt Zouma, left, celebrates after scoring. AFP
  • Chelsea manager Frank Lampard. EPA
    Chelsea manager Frank Lampard. EPA
  • Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy collects the ball under pressure from Crystal Palace's Cheikhou Kouyate. PA
    Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy collects the ball under pressure from Crystal Palace's Cheikhou Kouyate. PA
  • Chelsea's Ben Chilwell fires home the first goal. AFP
    Chelsea's Ben Chilwell fires home the first goal. AFP
  • Chelsea's Timo Werner under pressure from Luka Milivojevic of Palace. Reuters
    Chelsea's Timo Werner under pressure from Luka Milivojevic of Palace. Reuters
  • Chelsea full-back Ben Chilwell, left, celebrates after scoring. EPA
    Chelsea full-back Ben Chilwell, left, celebrates after scoring. EPA
  • Palace's James McArthur heads the ball. EPA
    Palace's James McArthur heads the ball. EPA
  • Chelsea's Kai Havertz on the attack. Getty
    Chelsea's Kai Havertz on the attack. Getty
  • Cesar Azpilicueta tells Tammy Abraham that the striker will not be taking the penalty that resulted in Chelsea's fourth goal. AFP
    Cesar Azpilicueta tells Tammy Abraham that the striker will not be taking the penalty that resulted in Chelsea's fourth goal. AFP
  • Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. Reuters
    Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. Reuters
  • Chelsea attacker Tammy Abraham controls the ball. PA
    Chelsea attacker Tammy Abraham controls the ball. PA
  • Chelsea substitute Christian Pulisic shoots at goal. Reuters
    Chelsea substitute Christian Pulisic shoots at goal. Reuters
  • Jorginho scores Chelsea's fourth goal from the penalty spot. Reuters
    Jorginho scores Chelsea's fourth goal from the penalty spot. Reuters
  • Palace's Tyrick Mitchell pleads his innocence after a penalty was awarded for his trip on Tammy Abraham that led to Chelsea's third goal. Getty
    Palace's Tyrick Mitchell pleads his innocence after a penalty was awarded for his trip on Tammy Abraham that led to Chelsea's third goal. Getty

Chelsea smash four past Crystal Palace in Premier League rout


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Chelsea beat Crystal Palace 4-0 at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Saturday, with all the goals coming in the second half.

Full-back Ben Chilwell marked his league debut for the Blues by scoring a goal and creating another for fellow defender Kurt Zouma, before Jorginho sealed the win with two penalties.

Hampered by a heel injury, Chilwell had a delayed start to his first season with Chelsea following his £50 million ($64m) move from Leicester in August.

But the England left-back is making up for lost time after delivering an influential performance in his third game following a pair of League Cup outings.

While Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has invested in a host of attacking talent since the end of last season, here it was Chilwell efforts that broke down Palace's stubborn defence at Stamford Bridge.

Chilwell's thumping finish put Chelsea ahead soon after half-time and he provided the assist for Kurt Zouma's header as the Blues doubled their lead.

Jorginho added a pair of late penalties for Chelsea to complete the rout, although the second caused some angst for Tammy Abraham as the Blues striker argued with Cesar Azpilicueta about who should take it before losing the heated debate with his captain.

That spat should not take the gloss off a composed display from Chelsea, who bounced back from their midweek League Cup defeat against Tottenham and ended a run of two successive league games without a win.

And Lampard made it clear there was no lingering issue over the Abraham-Azpilicueta spat at the end.

"It's been dealt with," he said." No problems. Just dealt with. I want leaders – and a little bit of conflict. It's good that Tammy was enthusiastic but you don't jump ahead of the list."

As for Chilwell, the  Blues' new boy was delighted with the day's work. "It was a brilliant team performance, and I'm obviously very happy with my personal performance," he said.

"We kept a clean sheet, which was important for us, and scored four great goals as a team. We showed our hunger to press for the whole 90 minutes.

"In the first half we were patient but maybe didn't take enough risks in the final third.

"The gaffer said at half-time we need to be more creative in the final third, and in the second half we showed that."

Palalce manager Roy Hodgson admitted there had been "poor performances" from some members of his team.

"Unfortunately, we gifted them a goal after five minutes in the second half, and to compound that we gifted them two more goals with the two penalties.

“We were playing against a good team who were very solid defensively themselves, which wasn’t easy.

“There were some poor performances out there today, that’s for sure. One or two will be looking in the mirror and saying they didn’t do anywhere near enough."