Chelsea in shock home defeat to struggling Crystal Palace, Tottenham win at Burnley to cut Chelsea’s lead

Chelsea’s lead at the top of the English Premier League was cut to seven points on Saturday after they suffered a shock 1-2 home loss to Crystal Palace.
The defeat and Tottenham beating hosts Burnley 2-0 meant hopes have been raised about any chance of toppling Chelsea.
Antonio Conte’s Chelsea had won their past 10 league games at Stamford Bridge and had not lost there in any competition since September 2016.
But all that run ended against a battling Eagles side.
The Blues struck first, when Cesc Fabregas turned home Eden Hazard’s cross after five minutes, but they were quickly behind.
Wilfried Zaha produced a fine solo finish to turn and fire home from the edge of the penalty box.
Seconds later, he set up Christian Benteke to put Palace ahead with a delicate dinked effort.
Chelsea piled on the pressure but could find no way past Eagles goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, who made 11 saves in total to ensure his side won a fourth successive game.
The international break cannot have helped Chelsea’s rhythm but that did not seem a problem when Hazard, back from a calf injury, and Fabregas combined early on.
Putting Pedro in as right wing-back in place of the absent Victor Moses did not seem to cause the leaders too many issues either, as many of their best attacks came down that flank.
A drop in energy levels might have played a part, however.
N’Golo Kante, who played 90 minutes for France against Spain in midweek, was noticeably below par.
More than 10 minutes of stoppage time was played before the game ended.
However, Chelsea did not appear any more likely to score and were reduced to hopeful balls into the box as Hazard’s influence faded.
In spite of their lack of sparkle, Chelsea’s defeat was not down to a lack of chances.
But, when they did break down Palace’s determined defence, they found Hennessey in inspired form.
His best save was an instinctive stop from Diego Costa in the first half.
But every facet of the Wales international’s game was tested as Chelsea tried to find a way back into the game after going behind.
Hennessey had to move quickly to keep out Marcos Alonso’s dangerous cross-shot, and dash from his line to prevent Costa from stretching to poke the ball home.
The goalkeeper was also tested from distance by Nemanja Matic.
He was helped by his defenders when dealing with the sheer number of crosses from the home side — 35 in total.
But he did superbly marshall a back-line which changed twice during the game because of injuries to James Tomkins and then Scott Dann.
Tottenham Hotspur cut the gap to seven points as they overcame a stubborn Burnley at Turf Moor.
The visitors struggled in a drab first half as Dele Alli fired wide when well-placed and both central midfielders Victor Wanyama and Harry Winks were withdrawn through injury.
Winks suffered a particularly nasty fall, tumbling into the Burnley dugout after trying to tackle Stephen Ward, before he was carried off on a stretcher at the interval.
In spite of a lack of attacking fluency, Spurs continued to exert pressure on the Clarets from corner kicks.
It paid off when Eric Dier fired in after the hosts failed to properly clear Christian Eriksen’s delivery.
Vincent Janssen, making his first Premier League start of 2017, became the third Tottenham player forced off injured but that allowed the introduction of Son Heung-min.
And the Korea striker made sure of victory as he tapped in Alli’s squared pass on 77 minutes as Spurs controlled the final stages.
Victory, coupled with Chelsea’s shock 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace, ensures Mauricio Pochettino’s side stay in contention for the title with nine games remaining.
A perennial worry with Tottenham is whether they possess the depth required to match the undoubted quality of their starting side and sustain a season-long challenge.
Victory over Southampton in the absence of injured striker Harry Kane last time out suggested those concerns could be consigned to the past, only to reappear in the first half at Turf Moor.
Kyle Walker’s deputy Kieran Tripper made numerous mistakes several times against his former club, while Winks was guilty of trying to forcing passes in midfield.
Also, Janssen was again ineffective, lacking the pace and guile to test the organised duo of Michael Keane and Ben Mee.
While not in the circumstances Spurs would have wanted, the added quality of Mousa Dembele and especially Son ultimately ensured a more comfortable afternoon.
The Korean’s movement was vital in opening up a tiring Burnley as Alli made amends for his earlier uncharacteristic miss to calmly find the striker free to side-foot in.
After the game, Pochettino said Kane could be back “in a few weeks”.
He added that Son in the meantime could again prove a stellar stand-in, while Janssen’s spell on the sidelines looks set to resume.
In other matches played on Saturday in the EPL, Hull City beat West Ham United 2-1, while Manchester United drew goalless with West Brom.
Leicester also beat Stoke City 2-0, with Watford compounding Sunderland’s woes with a 1-0 defeat.