Crystal Palace - 0
Chelsea - 2 (Drogba 27. Tiago 71.)

This match, of course, was always going to be difficult, and so it proved to be. Chelsea has spent multi-millions on players in the last couple of seasons, and is able to boast players that are "worth" individually, more than the whole of Palace's team!

The first goalmouth action came when Joe Cole fired in a shot that was sent back out again by Danny Granville, conceding a corner in the process. Frank Lampard sent in the corner, but Fitz Hall was on hand to clear the Palace lines once more. Mark Hudson was the next to clear a dangerous ball into the centre, shortly followed by a corner to Palace that was centered by Wayne Routledge with, surprisingly, Danny getting on the end of the cross, sending his shot wide of the upright.

Another couple of corners to Chelsea failed to worry our defence too much, and suddenly at the other end Emmerson Boyce took a shot on goal that John Terry had to get in the way of. Aki Riihilahti then tried a shot on goal that was quite easily held by Petr Cech in the visitors' goal, before Didier Drogba sent in a cross that went well out of play.

Cole had a shot that Julian Speroni held on well to, and as the ball came back into our area from a Celestine Babayaro cross it eluded all the players and simply ran out for a goal kick. Lampard tried a shot that flew over the top of the bar, but the first goal was not to be long in coming. Claude Makelele pushed through a cross, and it was Drogba who found the ball in front of goal, and he slammed it into the bottom corner of the net before Julian had time to react. 1-0 to Chelsea, and things were already looking bleak.

Lampard tried another shot, which sailed over the top of the bar, though Julian appeared to have it well covered, before Cole sent in a shot that was blocked by Wayne. Aki sent in a cross that was blocked by Drogba, and Joonas Kolkka tried his luck with a cross that was well kept out by Cardoso Tiago. Lampard's cross was cleared by Fitz, but suddenly all the action was at the wrong end of the pitch as far as the Palace faithful were concerned, as Babayaro saw his cross cleared for a corner by Mark. The corner resulted in Mark clearing the ball once more, but it fell nicely for Cole to snap a shot at goal that Julian did well to keep hold of.

Lampard tried once again, but Julian was equal to the task, holding on to the ball, and the first half came to close with little further action. Iain Dowie would have been reasonably pleased with the effort to date, and would surely have been urging the lads on, as they were only a solitary goal down, and had everything left to play for.

The first action of the second half though, was merely a repeat of the first, as Lampard tried a shot on goal that once again went over the top of the bar, and then suddenly a player who had seemed fairly quiet in the match to date popped up and fired a shot on goal, that was unfortunately blocked by Terry. The player concerned was Ivan Kaviedes, and one could only hope that he might become more involved in the action as play went on.

Drogba sent a shot goalwards, but Julian hung on to the ball once more before Danny sent in a cross that was easily claimed by Cech. Andrew Johnson finally managed to get a shot on goal, his effort going wide of the mark, and then Cole snapped a shot at goal that went wide of the post, when he really should have done a little better. A free kick to Palace saw Danny fire in the ball, but the keeper rose to claim it before any Palace player could pounce, and shortly after Terry was caught offside.

Mark cleared a corner to Chelsea before Babayaro was booked for unsporting behaviour, his transgression being a foul on AJ. Lampard fired yet another shot over the top of the bar and Drogba tried a shot that was blocked by Tony Popovic. Emmerson cleared the next cross, which was fired in by Paulo Ferreira, and as play stopped for a foul by Drogba on Mark, Palace decided to make a substitution, taking off Ivan in favour of Michael Hughes.

Chelsea made an immediate change of their own, replacing Mateja Kezman with Adrian Mutu, and within moments Chelsea were back on the scoresheet, with Tiago slotting home a neat goal into the bottom corner of the net. Mark was then booked for a foul on Drogba, and Chelsea made another change, this time due to Drogba appearing injured in the previous tackle. They brought Njitap Geremi on as his replacement, and then they decided to make their final change, with Cole being replaced by Eidur Gudjohnsen.

Lampard swung in another corner to Chelsea, the ball was cleared as far as Mutu, and as the ball was fired back in it was Mark who was on hand to clear the danger. Mutu then tried a shot on goal that was cleared by Tony, and as Chelsea continued to pepper our area with crosses the defence stood firm, refusing to concede another goal. There was only really time for one final shot on goal, and it came from the unlikely source of Fitz, his shot being blocked by the Chelsea defence.

The difference a "few" million pounds makes was clearly on show, and it will be up to Iain and the lads in the backroom, to show just what this Palace side is capable of, when we finally meet Chelsea on their patch, looking to gain our revenge. Bear in mind, so far this season we are undefeated on our travels! Let's hope it stays that way for the rest of the season!

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Julian Speroni, Emmerson Boyce, Tony Popovic, Mark Hudson, Danny Granville, Wayne Routledge, Fitz Hall, Aki Riihilahti, Joonas Kolkka, Andrew Johnson, Ivan Kaviedes (Michael Hughes 67).

Substitutes not used: Gabor Kiraly, Shaun Derry, Dougie Freedman, Gary Borrowdale.

Chelsea: Petr Cech, Renato Paulo Ferreira, William Gallas, John Terry, Celestine Babayaro, Claude Makelele, Frank Lampard, Cardoso Tiago, Joe Cole (Njitap Geremi 76), Didier Drogba (Eidur Gudjohnsen 75), Mateja Kezman (Adrian Mutu 70).

Substitutes not used: Alberto Ricardo Carvalho, Carlo Cudicini.

Attendance: 24,953

Referee: Mr C Foy