LONDON — When listing the issues he encountered while adapting to life in England, Hakim Ziyech once included the act of learning how to drive on the left-hand side. Saturday’s 1-0 win at Crystal Palace was a reminder that he has always been more comfortable on the right, producing the match-winning moment a minute from full-time that enables Chelsea to keep looking up at Liverpool and Manchester City with a sliver of optimism, rather than over their shoulders at the scrap for a top-four finish.
It also extends a promising run of Premier League performances that suggest the 28-year-old could yet make a success of his time in England, having often looked like an inconsistent misfit since arriving from Ajax in July 2020 for an initial €40 million.
– Report: Ziyech’s late goal lifts Chelsea to win at Palace
Ziyech scored for the third league game in a row at the end of a 90 minutes that typified the false dawn feel to his Chelsea career. With 16 minutes remaining, Ziyech thought he’d opened the scoring when reacting smartly as Palace substitute goalkeeper Jack Butland parried away Romelu Lukaku’s left-footed drive. VAR had other ideas, adjudging Lukaku to have strayed offside in the build-up.
Chelsea appeared to be heading for a stalemate in a game that never truly settled, somehow reflective of the turbulence London had encountered the day before as Storm Eunice caused damage throughout the capital, before Ziyech struck again. Substitute Marcus Alonso’s raking cross found Ziyech, drifting in off the right wing, at the far post and he steered a smart first-time finish past Butland for a victory that keeps the Blues in third place, seven points behind Liverpool and seven clear of Manchester United.
The fact they are isolated in the league to that extent is a reflection of both the…
Source : espn
