- Crystal Palace 1-3 Chelsea: Pochettino’s men leave it late to ensure victory
- Gallagher scored a double in the second half before Fernandez sealed the victory.
- Declan Rice showed his class after scoring against West Ham, those fans who booed him are DUMB – Listen to the everything is beginning podcast
Roy Hodgson insisted he can move Crystal Palace away from the Premier League relegation zone even though Chelsea’s late show increased the pressure on the 76-year-old manager.
A Jefferson Lerma goal gave Palace the lead but Conor Gallagher equalized before Mauricio Pochettino’s men scored twice in injury time, first through Gallagher and then Enzo Fernandez as they silenced Selhurst Park.
On a night when Palace fans showed their frustration towards the club’s hierarchy with banners branding them “weak”, Hodgson said he felt their pain after this defeat.
“It’s a bad period,” said Hodgson, who faces upcoming Premier League games against Everton and Burnley. ‘There are 14 games. Many games. Many points. We’ve shown enough, even in some of the other losses we’ve had. I don’t have any worries about it.
‘But I do want to emphasize that there is no complacency. We realize we are at the wrong end of the table. We know that points are necessary to get out of the relegation zone.
Roy Hodgson, under pressure, insists he can take Crystal Palace to the top of the Premier League
‘If the question is, do I think this group of players is good enough to get us out of this? Yes. They showed a lot tonight, which gives me even more faith and confidence that they will achieve it.”
Hodgson added: “I feel so sorry for them because coming home and sleeping on that defeat is going to be very hard for everyone.” The fans were very good at all times. “We have to gut them because, like me in the 85th minute, I didn’t think we were going to lose this game.”
Chelsea considered selling Gallagher in January but, much to his manager’s relief, he stayed.
“He always decided, what he told me, to stay at Chelsea,” Pochettino said, before being asked if he should be tied down to a new deal.
Jefferson Lerma opened the scoring at half an hour with a great goal
Conor Gallagher scored twice as Chelsea fought back to beat Crystal Palace.
“It’s about him and the club,” the Blues boss added. ‘I’m not suffering from this kind of thing. He still has one more year left on his contract (it expires in June 2025). “That’s a matter for him and for the club.”
Chelsea have bounced back since being beaten at home by Wolves, a defeat that put Pochettino under pressure.
Since then, they have beaten Aston Villa in the FA Cup and Palace here.
“I don’t care about the rumours, the tension, the pressure or the stress,” Pochettino said. ‘We know very well what our reality is and we are going to continue working.’