Chelsea 4-0 Crystal Palace: The one Tammy Abraham was not allowed to take a penalty

October 3rd. This was the weekend marked for fans to return to football grounds up and down the country. While it would have been strange with the social distancing protocols in place, it still would have been brilliant to see familiar faces in the stands once again. Hopefully we won't have to wait much longer because, as ever, football without fans is nothing.

Frank Lampard rang in the changes against high flying Eagles on Saturday lunch time. Mason Mount was taken out of the spotlight, no doubt to the excitement of social media trolls. Callum Hudson-Odoi handed a chance to impress while heavily linked to a Bayern move once again. And Christian Pulisic finally returned to the squad. But would just make a cameo on the day. Captain America will be eased back in to not damage those precious ligaments.

If Roy Hodgson were not the man in charge, one could be forgiven for thinking there were some 'mind games' at work before the opening whistle. As Chelsea strolled down the tunnel were found waiting on the pitch for an inordinate amount of time. Social distancing protocols in place have the away team getting ready in the Chelsea club which is no distance from the ground. The wait was long enough to draw sarcastic applause from Timo Werner when they eventually did arrive. And I am here for that sort of sarcasm.

Chelsea's first half display could easily have been lifted from any number of games over the last year. Boasted the majority of possession. Were in full control of the tempo but didn't really threaten any danger. All while facing a defence that boasted Mamadou Sakho. Take your chances lads!

It only took five minutes into the second half for the deadlock to finally be broken. Ben Chilwell on his Premier League debut for the club took his chance and it paid off. Sixteen minutes later Kurt Zouma popped up with a towering header - assisted by the new left back - to double the lead.

Despite their heroics against Man United, Crystal Palace weren't able to contain Chelsea and it was inevitable more goals were to come. Although more from glaring errors than anything else - but I will take the goals as they come.

First, Tammy Abraham was fouled inside the box - just. Jorginho returned the skip to his step and converted his chance with ease. Not even 5 minutes later Kai Havertz drew a second penalty - and this will forever be my takeaway of the match.

Tammy Abraham quickly grabbed the ball and stepped up to the spot to take it. Cesar Azpilicueta ran up, took the ball off him and gave it to Jorginho. A brief 'discussion' eventually saw the young forward stalk away in an epic sulk before Jorginho once again slotted home. He hadn't even won this penalty. Why he thought he should take it - only he knows. Following the match Frank Lampard confirmed he'd been 'dealt with'. Which, let's be honest, was a proper bollocking.

Edouard Mendy started his first Premier League game. Chelsea kept a clean sheet. These things are NOT related. While it's all well and good it goes into the record books for him, Crystal Palace had ZERO shots on target. None. Not a single one. The credit for the clean sheet should go to Chelsea's defenders for snuffing out any goalscoring opportunities. The Eagles have a lot of attacking threat at their disposal this season and have looked great going forward. This was a win for Thiago and Kurt Zouma. Mendy was there but probably didn't need to be.

jb x

RESULT: Chelsea 4-0 Crystal Palace

GOALS: Chilwell 50, Zouma 66, Jorginho 78, Tammy Abraham Jorginho 82

CHELSEA XI: Mendy, Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Zouma, Chilwell, Jorginho, Kante (Kovacic 83), Havertz, Hudson-Odoi (Pulisic 83), Werner, Abraham 

STAR MAN: Ben Chilwell