Havertz led the attacking line superbly for Chelsea, scoring his second Premier League goal
An impressive Chelsea moved back into the top four of the Premier League with a dominant victory at Crystal Palace.
Beaten 5-2 at home last weekend by struggling West Brom, the Blues quickly set about making amends, scoring twice in the opening 10 minutes, during which the overwhelmed home side barely got a kick of the ball.
Kai Havertz curled in the first before turning provider to set up Christian Pulisic to fire the second into the roof of the net from close range.
Kurt Zouma all-but ended the game as a contest on the half-hour mark, rising highest to head in a Mason Mount free-kick.
And the visitors could easily have had more before the break but for some good goalkeeping from Vicente Guaita and a goalline clearance from Patrick van Aanholt to clear another Zouma effort.
Christian Benteke headed in Jeffrey Schlupp's cross to reduce the deficit to reward an improved second-half showing from Palace with 25 minutes to go, but Pulisic's far-post finish from Reece James' cross ended any hope of an unlikely comeback.
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Action and reaction from Crystal Palace v Chelsea, along with the rest of Saturday's Premier League games
Lawro's full predictions v Police Academy actor Steve Guttenberg
A redemptive week for Chelsea
Chelsea suffered the first bump in the road of Thomas Tuchel's managerial tenure last weekend, with West Brom's shock win.
Wednesday's 2-0 victory over Porto in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final washed away some of the negativity from that result, putting them in a great position to reach the last four.
And they completed the job with this one-sided display that puts them back in the English top-flight top four, ahead of the likes of Liverpool and West Ham, who will replace them if they win their game in hand at home to Leicester on Sunday.
They had full control of the game before the 11th minute and sealed the win ahead of the 31st through a display packed with neat, precision passing, effective high pressing and clinical finishing.
Keeping up such a relentless display throughout the game was always unlikely, but even when Palace were able to muster something to hurt them, the Blues always had a higher gear to click into.
Palace started the game aiming for a fourth successive top-flight clean sheet at home for the first time since 1992. They spent the majority of the game simply trying to keep the scoreline respectable.
With 38 points, 12 more than 18th-placed Fulham, Roy Hodgson's side will not be going down this season but the ex-England boss will want to see his side compete better over their remaining fixtures.
Tuchel and his side still have plenty to do if they are to end the season with a place in the 2021-22 Champions League, but the last four days have set them up for a big last push.
Chelsea's dominance over Palace continues
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Crystal Palace have lost each of their last seven Premier League games against Chelsea - only against Tottenham (nine consecutive matches between September 2015 - September 2019) have the Eagles lost more games consecutively versus a specific opponent in their Football League history.
Chelsea are yet to lose on the road under Thomas Tuchel in the Premier League (P6 W4 D2) - the only Blues manager to avoid defeat in his first six away games in the competition was Felipe Scolari (unbeaten in first 10).
None of the last 20 Premier League meetings between Crystal Palace and Chelsea have ended as a draw - only Newcastle v Spurs between August 1999 and December 2010 has had a longer run of games without a drawn game in the competition (21).
Chelsea scored two goals within the opening 10 minutes of a Premier League game for the first time since January 2018 against Brighton (6 minutes), while there were just 102 seconds separating Kai Havertz's opener and Christian Pulisic's strike for the Blues.
Kai Havertz scored and assisted in a single league game for the first time as a Chelsea player, last doing so for Bayer 04 Leverkusen against 1. FC Köln in the Bundesliga in June 2020.
Chelsea's Christian Pulisic has scored more Premier League goals against Crystal Palace than against any other side (4), while the only Americans to score more than Pulisic (13) in the competition are Clint Dempsey (57) and Brian McBride (36).
All four of Mason Mount's Premier League assists this season for Chelsea have been for headed goals from set piece situations, with three of those being scored by Kurt Zouma.
Chelsea's Kurt Zouma has scored five goals in the Premier League this season, more than any other defender. His five league goals this campaign have come from 19 appearances having scored just four goals in his first 141 Premier League games for Chelsea, Stoke and Everton combined.
Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke has been directly involved in nine goals in his last 11 Premier League appearances against Chelsea (7 goals, 2 assists). He has scored in four home games against them and is yet to end on the winning side (D1 L3) with only Matt Le Tissier v Nottingham Forest (five) scoring in more home Premier League matches against a specific opponent without ending on the winning side.
What's next?
Crystal Palace have a bit of time off, playing next at Leicester in the Premier League (in a 20:00 BST kick-off on 26 April).
Chelsea also have a little gap now until their next league game, against Brighton on Tuesday, 20 April (20:00). Before then, they have the second leg of their Champions League tie with Porto (this coming Tuesday) and an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City next Saturday.
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Line-ups
Match Stats
Live Text
Line-ups
Crystal Palace
Formation 4-4-2
31Guaita
2Ward8Kouyaté24Cahill3van Aanholt
9J Ayew4Milivojevic44Riedewald25Eze
20Benteke11Zaha
31Guaita
2Ward
8KouyatéBooked at 29mins
24Cahill
3van Aanholt
9J AyewSubstituted forTownsendat 76'minutes
4Milivojevic
44RiedewaldSubstituted forMcCarthyat 59'minutes
25EzeSubstituted forSchluppat 59'minutes
20Benteke
11Zaha
Substitutes
1Butland
6Dann
10Townsend
14Mateta
15Schlupp
22McCarthy
27Mitchell
34Kelly
39Rak-Sakyi
Chelsea
Formation 3-4-2-1
16Mendy
28Azpilicueta15Zouma2Rüdiger
20Hudson-Odoi5Jorginho17Kovacic21Chilwell
19Mount10Pulisic
29Havertz
16Mendy
28Azpilicueta
15Zouma
2Rüdiger
20Hudson-OdoiSubstituted forJamesat 76'minutes
5JorginhoSubstituted forKantéat 61'minutes
17KovacicSubstituted forZiyechat 83'minutes
21Chilwell
19Mount
10Pulisic
29Havertz
Substitutes
1Arrizabalaga
3Alonso
7Kanté
9Abraham
11Werner
18Giroud
22Ziyech
24James
33Emerson
Referee: Michael Oliver
Match Stats
Home TeamCrystal PalaceAway TeamChelsea
Possession
Home36%
Away64%
Shots
Home1
Away23
Shots on Target
Home1
Away10
Corners
Home0
Away8
Fouls
Home7
Away12
Live Text
Post update
Match ends, Crystal Palace 1, Chelsea 4.
90'+3'
Full Time
Second Half ends, Crystal Palace 1, Chelsea 4.
88'
Post update
Attempt blocked. Reece James (Chelsea) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Christian Pulisic.
87'
Post update
Attempt saved. Kai Havertz (Chelsea) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Hakim Ziyech.
85'
Post update
Offside, Crystal Palace. Andros Townsend tries a through ball, but Wilfried Zaha is caught offside.
84'
Post update
Foul by César Azpilicueta (Chelsea).
84'
Post update
Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
84'
Post update
Attempt blocked. Mason Mount (Chelsea) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Reece James.
83'
Substitution
Substitution, Chelsea. Hakim Ziyech replaces Mateo Kovacic.
81'
Post update
Foul by Reece James (Chelsea).
81'
Post update
Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
80'
Post update
Offside, Chelsea. Kurt Zouma tries a through ball, but Mason Mount is caught offside.
79'
Post update
Reece James (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
79'
Post update
Foul by Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace).
78' goal
Goal!
Goal! Crystal Palace 1, Chelsea 4. Christian Pulisic (Chelsea) left footed shot from very close range to the centre of the goal.
76'
Post update
Hand ball by Luka Milivojevic (Crystal Palace).
76'
Substitution
Substitution, Chelsea. Reece James replaces Callum Hudson-Odoi.
76'
Substitution
Substitution, Crystal Palace. Andros Townsend replaces Jordan Ayew.
75'
Post update
Attempt missed. Mason Mount (Chelsea) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Mateo Kovacic.
72'
Post update
Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Source: bbc.com