Of all of the results in the Premier League and, in fact, the world, this was probably the most shocking of them all. While Manchester City destroyed Stoke 7-2 and Real Madrid needed a late Cristiano Ronaldo goal to take all three points from their game with Getafe, it was Chelsea’s defeat to Crystal Palace that will have shocked the most people.
Cesar Azpilicueta diverted the ball into his own net for Palace’s first of the season, before Tiemoue Bakayoko levelled the game. The returning Wilfried Zaha then displayed exactly why he has been such a miss for the side with what turned out to be the winner as Chelsea huffed and puffed, but failed to find any way through Roy Hodgson’s side.
Their performance was abject and the scoreline was similarly poor, meaning your three contenders for Man of the Match were pretty difficult to find.
#3 Charly Musonda
Following his exploits on social media, Musonda was thrown into the fire by Antonio Conte as the Blues chased an equalising goal late on. Having been handed his chance, the forward tried his best to spark his team into life and he almost did so with some lively runs, good passing and clever movement. Perhaps his cameo should have been a longer one, although he should have scored when put through by Fabregas, and his miss is the only reason why he isn’t higher on this list.
#2 Tiemoue Bakayoko
In the absence of N’Golo Kante, somebody needed to step up and, honestly, nobody did. Crystal Palace dominated Chelsea in the middle of the park as they were the more aggressive and proactive of the two sides. Bakayoko is still adapting to the Premier League and this was always going to prove a tough game as Palace are scrapping for everything, although the midfielders distribution and strength were on show in the first-half, before he faded in the second 45. His goal got Chelsea back on level terms and it was a fantastic leap from the midfielder. Ultimately though, he struggled without his midfield-partner.
#1 Cesc Fabregas
The much-maligned midfielder was utilised in the middle to good effect on Saturday in the absence of Kante. Usually unable to dictate the game in the same way from a deeper-position, Fabregas played some neat passes and took some nice touches to maintain possession as Palace threatened to overrun Chelsea. He was able to play two magical lobbed-passes in the game that his teammates failed to make the most of and, ultimately, his creativity was wasted on a day in which Chelsea had no answer for Palace.