Mauricio Pochettino said match-winner Conor Gallagher is “invaluable” to Chelsea after his two goals helped them to a 3-1 win at Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Monday evening.
Chelsea trailed 1–0 at the break after a brilliant first-half goal from Jefferson Lerma, but Gallagher scored just one minute into the second half and then scored a 91st-minute winner to put Palace ahead. Enzo Fernandez scored the third goal in the 94th minute of the match, as Chelsea came away from Selhurst Park with three points.
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Gallagher’s first effort saw him finish well from a Malo Gusto cross, while in the second he scored neatly from the edge of the box to give Chelsea the win.
Pochettino said of Gallagher, “I think he is a player with great commitment to the team, who always tries to compensate for every situation.” “Having a player like him is priceless. I’m very happy for him because it’s a win we needed.”
Gallagher was linked with a move away from Chelsea in the January transfer window but he stayed put. With his contract at the end of next season, Gallagher’s long-term future is uncertain, but Pochettino says Gallagher never thought about moving away from the club last month.
“He always decided, what he told me was that he wanted to stay at Chelsea,” Pochettino said. “But it’s about him and the club. I’m not worried about these types of things, he has another year on his contract. But it’s a matter for him and the club.”
Pochettino said the club would assess the severity of Thiago Silva’s groin injury on Tuesday, when he was taken off after 61 minutes, and said Malo Gusto was tired rather than injured afterwards.
Pochettino’s team was in inconsistent form in this match. In their last three matches, they had lost to Liverpool and Wolves in the Premier League, but in their last match they recorded an impressive 3–1 win at Aston Villa in the FA Cup. The challenge on this trip to Selhurst Park was to play like they had played against Villa, not like they had in their previous two Premier League fixtures.
Chelsea dominated the first half, managing only one shot off target, but then found a clinical edge in the second half when Pochettino made it two ahead at half-time with Christopher Nkunku subbing in for Noni Maduake .
From there he delivered his match-winning performance, playing with the same intensity as he did against Villa. The challenge for Chelsea is to continue inventing a 90-minute show. “It is this consistency that we need to change,” Pochettino said.
“We need to start the game in a different way, we need to play consistently and try to perform in the same way as we performed against Aston Villa. It’s not easy, but that’s the challenge. We need three The points were needed and I’m very pleased.”
Chelsea will now travel to Manchester City on Sunday and then play in the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool on February 25.
On the opposition side, the defeat left Hodgson disappointed. Crystal Palace are 15th in the league, five points off the relegation zone, and star players Eberechi Eze, Marc Guhi and Michael Olise are all sidelined.
“I’m really not in the mood if I’m talking honestly about positive things and trying to find things to say that will make me happy, because I don’t know what to say that will. Would make me happy,” Hodgson said after the match.
“What can I say that will lift the spirits of the players? I can probably say, OK, with the players we have coming back and these guys performing so well, it’s great with the 14 games we have left. Good sign for the future.
“But of course we still don’t know when Olise, Eze will be back, so we may be struggling for a few more games like tonight before we see a team that can challenge the opposition a little bit more. Will threaten as much as we did today.”
But despite their poor form, Hodgson is adamant the team will avoid the drop with the January signing of Adam Wharton on Monday. The next match is at Everton and then they are at home to Burnley. “It’s been a bad run but it’s been down to the injury situation,” Hodgson said. “It’s 14 games (left), a lot of matches and a lot of points and I think we’ve shown a lot.
“So I have no worries, but no complacency and the points are very important to get out of the relegation zone. This group of players is very good and tonight has given me even more belief and confidence.”
