There had been chances at both ends before Estevao broke the deadlock shortly after the half-hour with a fine individual effort. Palace’s Jaydee Canvot inadvertently set our talented attacker away and though the Brazilian still had plenty to do, he made it look simple.

We dominated thereafter and ensured the points would be heading north of the river with two more goals before the midway point of the second half. Joao Pedro got the first after exchanging passes with Estevao and finishing confidently, before the Brazilian’s goalbound shot hit Canvot’s hand. Fernandez’s spot-kick was emphatic.

Chris Richards’ late header was only a consolation for Palace, who finished the game with ten men after Adam Wharton was shown a pair of yellow cards in quick succession.

The result extends our unbeaten run against the Eagles to 17 league games and makes it back-to-back victories in Liam Rosenior’s first two league games in charge of Chelsea.

Team news

Robert Sanchez returned in goal and with Filip Jorgensen injured, Teddy Sharman-Lowe was our substitute keeper.

Benoit Badiashile was the only player who started Wednesday’s win over Pafos in defence to retain his place, with Reece James dropping to right-back in place of Malo Gusto. Trevoh Chalobah and Marc Cucurella completed the back four.

Andrey Santos came into midfield, alongside Moises Caicedo, and there were starts for Estevao and Joao Pedro, who joined Pedro Neto and Fernandez in our front four.

Palace were boosted by the return of Daniel Munoz and Ismaila Sarr after injury and AFCON exploits respectively.

Early chances exchanged

In the opening quarter-of-an-hour – as the contest got off to a lively start – both sides had one very good chance to break the deadlock.

On seven minutes, Badiashile lost possession and Jean-Philippe Mateta raced clear only to be denied by the outstretched right leg of Sanchez. It proved a pivotal save.

We responded by winning a succession of corners and keeping the ball alive in the final third. From one such attack, the ball landed at Fernandez’s feet near the penalty spot. He fired a couple of yards over the bar.

Caicedo shot wide with the outside of his boot and Sarr couldn’t steer a similar effort on target after a Palace long throw was flicked deep into our box. There was little to choose between the sides in the opening half-hour.

Estevao breaks through

That didn’t remain the case for much longer, though. In the 34th minute, Canvot’s misdirected pass set Estevao clear, just inside our half. The Brazilian showed electric pace to beat Tyrick Mitchell in a foot race, and then composure and finishing ability to blast his shot past Dean Henderson.

That was Estevao’s second league goal of the season and he nearly had a third soon after, once again dashing away from Mitchell but this time, on his right, not quite accurate enough to beat Henderson. The ball fizzed past Palace’s keeper and the far post.

We went back into the dressing rooms on a high and came out with renewed energy to take the game by the scruff of the neck and secure the points. It worked.

Doubling up

On 49 minutes, Chalobah did superbly to tackle Mateta and pass through the lines to Joao Pedro. He worked it square to Estevao who curled a teasing ball forward into his compatriot’s path. Joao Pedro might have passed to Fernandez but instead opted to cut inside Wharton and go for goal. The power on his left-footed shot was too hot for Henderson to handle, the ball fizzing beneath his legs and bouncing up into the roof of the net. 2-0!

A curling Estevao shot from the edge of the box then drew a one-handed diving save from Henderson, with Cucurella’s follow-up lacking the power to beat the Palace keeper.

Three goals and three points

We kept attacking, and got our rewards. A teasing James cross was palmed by Henderson straight to Joao Pedro, whose sight of goal was blocked only by Canvot. The shot hit the Palace man on the hand and after a VAR review, a penalty was awarded, with the young defender booked and not sent off because it was deemed accidental.

Fernandez stepped up and confidently placed his penalty into the bottom right-hand corner.

Things went from bad to worse for Palace when Wharton was shown a second yellow card for a second bad foul on Caicedo in quick succession.

After Rosenior made a triple substitution – sending on Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana and Jamie Gittens – Brennan Johnson shot wide with a rare attempt from the hosts.

It was Palace who had the final say. Sanchez saved sensationally from Jefferson Lerma’s header but we couldn’t clear the ball and Richards headed in from close range.

Besides spoiling our Spaniard’s clean sheet, the goal made no difference to the outcome as the Blues ran out deserved winners.

What it means…

The win lifts us to fourth in the table ahead of sixth-placed Manchester United’s trip to Arsenal later on Sunday. They would have to win at the Emirates to go above us.

What’s next…

We play Napoli away on Wednesday evening hoping to secure a top-eight finish in the Champions League table. Kick-off at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium is at 8pm.

Chelsea: Sanchez; James (c) (Hato 81), Badiashile, Chalobah, Cucurella; Andrey Santos, Caicedo (Fofana 74); Estevao (Gittens 74), Fernandez, Neto (Gusto 74); Joao Pedro (Delap 85)
Unused subs Sharman-Lowe, Acheampong, Garnacho, Guiu
Scorers Estevao 34, Joao Pedro 50, Fernandez (pen) 64
Booked Caicedo 20, Andrey Santos 90

Crystal Palace: Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Canvot (Pino 65); Munoz (Riad 76), Lerma, Wharton, Mitchell (Sosa 65); Sarr, Johnson (Hughes 76); Mateta (Uche 85)
Unused subs Benitez, Imray, Rodney, Devenny
Scorer Richards 88
Booked Canvot 63, Wharton 67, Lerma 90
Sent off Wharton 72 (second yellow)

Referee Darren England
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