EPL: Moses missing as Palace stun Chelsea

Injured Victor Moses was missing in Chelsea’s line up as the west London side lost 1-2 to Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The Nigerian international is nursing a calf strain, which has seen forced him out of action.
All of the goals came in the opening 11 minutes during an action-packed London derby, with Eden Hazard opening the scoring before Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke breathed new life into the title race with a quick fire brace.
The win also keeps Palace four points clear of the relegation zone having now won four consecutive matches for the first time since April 2015.
The match got off to a blistering start and it took Chelsea less than five minutes to take the lead when Fabregas marked his return to the starting lineup by turning Eden Hazard’s low cross home from close range.
Palace restored parity just four minutes after falling behind when Benteke flicked the ball around the corner for Zaha, who held off the challenge of a number of Chelsea defenders before picking out the bottom corner with a precise finish.
The Eagles had scored just three first-half away goals all season coming into the match, but they made it two in 90 seconds to turn the game on its head as Benteke gave his side the lead with his third goal in his last three visits to Stamford Bridge.
The striker’s barraging run saw the ball bounce kindly for Zaha, who played it back in for the Belgian to calmly chip the ball over a sprawling Thibaut Courtois after leaving his compatriot on the ground with a dummy moments before.
That proved to be the last of the goals in the opening 45 minutes, but it was by no means that last of the action and Andros Townsend were fortunate to escape punishment after 16 minutes when he clearly handled the ball inside the area to stop Pedro’s shot following a cleverly-worked short corner.
Having recovered from the shock of Palace’s quickfire double Chelsea soon began to lay siege to Wayne Hennessey’s goal and the Wales international pulled off a fine save to deny Diego Costa after Hazard and Fabregas had combined brilliantly to set up the chance.
The hosts continued to dominate, but Palace defended their penalty box heroically and had a chance to give themselves a cushion with less than 20 minutes remaining when Benteke could not turn Damien Delaney’s knockdown home under pressure from David Luiz.
In the end, further treatment saw the injury time extend beyond the allotted amount, but Palace were finally able to celebrate when referee Craig Pawson called time on a dramatic derby in the 101st minute.