Chelsea 2-1 Crystal Palace
CHELSEA NEEDED AN 89th-minute penalty from substitute Noni Madueke to edge past Crystal Palace 2-1 at Stamford Bridge and climb back into the top half of the Premier League table.
It had looked like being another frustrating home outing for Mauricio Pochettino’s side for most of the second half, after Michael Olise had cancelled out Mykhailo Mudryk’s early goal with a brilliant finish on the half-volley on the stroke of half-time.
Nicolas Jackson missed a superb chance to win it, slotting the ball wide after being set up by Conor Gallagher.
But with the game drifting towards what would have been a deserved point for Palace, there was a final twist, Eberechi Eze tripped Madueke as he sought to control the ball on the edge of the box, and the England Under-21 international won the match from the spot with his first league goal of the season.
Chelsea opened the scoring after 13 minutes, and it began with Malo Gusto slipping his man in midfield with a smart shimmy and turn.
Driving over halfway, his pass forward was wayward, but interest in Chelsea’s attack was revived by a critical slip by Nathaniel Clyne whose stumble let the ball run on. That allowed it to reach Christopher Nkunku, who fed the galloping Malo Gusto on the overlap and his centre was gratefully turned home first time by Mudryk.
The Ukraine international had made an electric start and would have made it two shortly afterwards but for a smothering block by Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson, closing the angle well after Mudryk had been slipped in by a deft Jackson back heel.
There was a fluency about Chelsea that has rarely been seen in recent weeks. Nkunku on his long-awaited first start was at the heart of things. Fresh from his role in the opening goal, he played a wonderful ball in for Jackson, whose low drive was aimed fractionally wide of Henderson’s far post.
The France international might then have had his first Stamford Bridge goal after 25 minutes had he not kicked the turf when clean through on goal, under pressure from defender Chris Richards.
Chelsea were industrious with the ball, racking up 323 passes during the first half and recording 63 per cent possession and – unlike so often this campaign – they had created gilt-edged chances to go with it.
And yet, in the final seconds of the half, a familiar sinking feeling for home supporters. Richards went in strong on Levi Colwill to win the ball in midfield and it broke out wide to Jordan Ayew.
Palace had men in the box and the one picked out by Ayew’s laser-like aim was Olise, who brought it down confidently on his chest, took a momentary glance at Djordje Petrovic and lashed it inside the Chelsea goalkeeper’s near post to make it 1-1.
Palace were without a win in seven games but the goal, though against the run of play, brought belief.
Eze whistled a free–kick past the post as the visitors registered the first chance of the second half, as Roy Hodgson’s side went toe-to-toe with their hosts.
Pochettino left Thiago Silva on the bench for only the second time in the league this season, but called on the 39-year-old just before the hour mark, alongside Romeo Lavia, who finally made his Chelsea debut.
Armando Broja was also sent on as the spectre of another disappointing home result loomed.
Minutes later, their moment looked to have arrived. Moises Caicedo scooped a pass forward to Gallagher who had found space centrally and the captain showed a keen awareness of space to find Jackson running through, but – with only Anderson to beat – he clipped the ball agonisingly wide.
That was followed by a fine, prodded finish from Axel Disasi’s pass that VAR rightly ruled out for offside.
Broja took one down and well drilled into the side netting, after Olise had drawn a smart near-post stop from Petrovic at the other end.
Chelsea thought two more points had slipped away at home. Then with two minutes to go, Madueke went over Eze’s leg, a VAR review yielded a penalty and the substitute picked himself up knock home the winning goal.
Brentford 1-4 Wolves
Hwang Hee-chan scored twice as Brentford forgot how to defend and Wolves took full advantage with a 4-1 win in west London.
Hwang took his tally for the season to 11 as Wanderers followed up their Christmas Eve win over Chelsea by collecting another festive three points.
It was a first victory in the capital in 15 attempts for Wolves, their last coming in a 2-0 win at Tottenham in February last year.
But it was gifted to them by a Brentford side who could soon be looking nervously over their shoulders at the relegation battle after a fourth straight defeat and a sixth in seven matches.
The Bees are riddled with injuries and suspensions – they had 10 players unavailable here – but there was still no excuse for some alarming defensive errors.
Nathan Collins arguably had his best game for Wolves; unfortunately the centre-half left Molineux to join Brentford in June.
The Bees’ record signing endured a nightmare against his former club, handing them two goals with terrible passes on an evening to forget.
Wolves were inches from taking the lead when Joao Gomes played Hwang in behind and his low cross was sliced narrowly over his own crossbar by Vitaly Janelt.
But from the corner, in the 13th minute, they did find the net after the ball was cleared as far as Pablo Sarabia, whose cross was met by a header from the totally unmarked Mario Lemina.
What came next was an utter farce from the hosts as they played the ball back from their own kick-off towards goalkeeper Mark Flekken.
Collins’ backpass to the Dutchman was woefully underhit and, barely 10 seconds after the restart, Hwang had rounded him and tapped into an empty net.
The crowd at the Gtech Stadium had barely caught their breath again when the Bees pulled one back, Yoane Wissa latching on to Neal Maupay’s clever flick and firing home.
Unbelievably, it could have gone from goalless to 2-2 in the space of five minutes but Jose Sa kept out a close-range header from Janelt.
Instead Wolves doubled their lead again when Toti’s powerful, clearing header was allowed to float between Collins and Mads Roerslev and straight to Hwang.
The South Korean turned, lifted the ball over the covering Ethan Pinnock and fired the ball past the exposed Flekken into the bottom corner.
Brentford could have pulled another back before half-time but Collins headed a Saman Ghoddos corner over and Maupay fired wide after being fed by Wissa in stoppage time.
Wolves lost Hwang to a back injury moments before the interval, but his replacement Jean-Ricner Bellegarde wrapped up their victory with 11 minutes left.
Collins was again the fall guy when his lazy pass across the face of goal was intercepted by Matheus Cunha, who played in Bellegarde for a simple finish.
⬇️ All supporters travelling to Ibrox for this evening’s game should be aware of the adverse weather conditions on the A9 currently.
— Ross County FC (@RossCounty) December 27, 2023
Safe travels to all Staggies making the journey. https://t.co/XecgTWCji4
Cinch Premiership games at Ibrox and Pittodrie were postponed after extreme weather conditions caused travel problems in the north of Scotland.
Rangers saw their home game against Ross County called off about 1.30pm on Wednesday as snow prevented the visitors travelling down the A9.
Motherwell got to Aberdeen early but many supporters of both clubs were stuck as roads were closed because of flooding in the north east.
A Scottish Professional Football League statement confirmed Rangers’ game was called off “following consultation with Police Scotland regarding today’s weather conditions on the A9”.
A Rangers statement added: “Despite the Ibrox playing surface being in good condition and ready to host the match, adverse weather conditions on the A9 means our visitors have been unable to reach Glasgow.”
The postponement means Rangers will go into Saturday’s derby at Celtic Park five points behind the leaders with two games in hand, and with extra time to prepare after Brendan Rodgers’ side beat Dundee on Boxing Day.
Aberdeen’s clash with Motherwell at Pittodrie was called off after Storm Gerrit caused flooding to many of the main routes into the city and prompted the cancellation of rail services.
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