LONDON (Reuters) -Chelsea eased to a 3-0 home win over a toothless Crystal Palace on Saturday as the European champions made a strong statement of intent in their opening game of the Premier League season.
Spanish left back Marcos Alonso fizzed a free kick into the top corner to put Chelsea in charge in the 27th minute while U.S. forward Christian Pulisic followed up on the rebound to double their lead five minutes before halftime.
The defender, who has spent the last three seasons on loan in England and France, dropped to his knees after scoring to further delight the home fans in the biggest Stamford Bridge crowd since the coronavirus pandemic struck in March 2020, with more than 38,000 turning out."As I was getting closer to the goal I though I might as well shoot and just went for it. I didn't know the ball went in, I did not know what to do. I was over the moon.
Club record signing Romelu Lukaku was not at the game as he is still observing coronavirus quarantine protocols after travelling to England from Italy following his 97.5-million-pound move from Inter Milan. Palace were out-classed in their first league game under coach Patrick Vieira and needed over an hour to have their first attempt on target, a tame header by Christian Benteke which goalkeeper Edouard Mendy caught comfortably."They caused us a few problems but we know we need to be better. The manager demanded us to try get on the ball and be a little braver, we just could not get out. A bad day at the office.
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