Chelsea 2-1 Crystal Palace: 5 Talking Points

Chelsea ended their three-match winless run and got the three points they were hungry for! Willian's deflected shot gave the hosts the lead in the 25th minute.

Crystal Palace were then bombarded with attacks by Chelsea but they were doing well to block them all out. However, all that came to an end after Martin Kelly's clearance hit Wayne Hennessey, and then hit him and went in.

Palace had a goal controversially denied just before they scored one right at the end. Here are the five talking points from the game:

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#5 Have players stopped listening to Conte?

Last season, when Conte was shouting out commands from the touchline, every single Chelsea player was listening to him and doing what he wanted. Now, they need to have become their own bosses.

During the first half, it was quite clear that Eden Hazard and Marcos Alonso were paying no heed to what the manager was asking them to do.

Conte kept shouting at them but they continued doing what they felt like doing.

Surprisingly, Davide Zappacosta was doing the same during the second half. Have the players lost their trust in the manager? It clearly looks like that.

#4 Only Zaha can save Palace now

Palace's best player

Crystal Palace are in the relegation zone now and it's going to be very difficult for them to stay up.

The London side has a lot of players out injured and Wilfred Zaha was among them before today's game.

The Eagles looked clueless and were ready to park the bus in the first half. They were just unable to stop the Chelsea attacks whilst the strikers played as defensive midfielders.

However, Roy Hodgson brought on Zaha at the start of the second half and the game opened up.

The Ivory Coast international was brilliant in launching attacks after attacks and brought life to the Palace side.

#3 Christensen needs to refocus

What's going on?

Andreas Christensen was easily Chelsea's second best defender behind Cesar Azpilicueta at the start of this season.

He was calm, composed, and was brilliant in decision making.

The Danish centre-back was not making any mistake at the back and was showing Gary Cahill how it's done.

However, in the last few matches, he's been making silly mistakes and his errors are leading to goals.

He's just 21-years-old but he needs to regain the form he had at the start of the season and get back to his best. The test at Camp Nou on Wednesday is going to be his biggest ever and that will define his career for the foreseeable future!

#2 Unlucky Palace

Out of luck

Crystal Palace had no luck whatsoever today vs Chelsea. A deflected goal gave Chelsea the lead and then an own goal doubled their advantage.

If that wasn't enough, they had a goal controversially ruled out at the end, just before they scored their only goal of the game.

If the first goal had stood, they might have walked away with a point from the game.

The Eagles are fighting against all odds to stay in the Premier League but will need a bit of luck coming their way.

They lost to Manchester United despite leading 2-0 last Monday and with injuries to their first team players, the Palace fans will be praying a lot more than usual.

#1 Olivier Giroud vs Alvaro Morata

One clear winner?

Olivier Giroud and Alvaro Morata are the only strikers in the Chelsea squad. The Blues need the two to make the most of their opportunities as False nine is not favoured by the players.

Antonio Conte started with Giroud today and the Frenchman showed exactly why he was a better pick that the club's record signing, Morata.

The former Arsenal man was linking up well and trying his best to convert those half chances.

Unfortunately for him, he had one shot cleared on the line, one come off the post and several other saved or blocked.

He was very effective in his time on the pitch while Morata failed to impress one bit.

He was not troubling the Palace defenders at all and was not linking up well with the teammates too. If this goes on, Conte might opt to start with Giroud a lot more in the future.