Late Madueke penalty sends Chelsea into the top half of the Premier League table after Crystal Palace win

Summer signing Noni Madueke was the hero for Chelsea against Crystal Palace, as the substitute struck late on to steal all three points for the Blues against the Eagles. 

Chelsea took the lead through Ukranian forward Mykhaylo Mudryk before Eagles winger Michael Olise found an unlikely equaliser late in the second half.

Former Crystal Palace trainee Noni Madueke then scored a penalty to rescue the Blues from what would have been an awful result in the London derby.

Chelsea were on the front foot right from the start and nearly took the lead when Mudryk played Ian Matseen through on goal, but the Dutchman’s effort was cleared off the line by Tyrick Mitchell.

Mudryk took matters into his hands soon after and gave Chelsea a 1-0 lead, tapping in from a perfect cut-back by Brazilian defender Malo Gusto.

Despite being a largely secondary part of the first half, Crystal Palace closed out the first 45 minutes with a shock equaliser, after Olise scored a phenomenal volley after expertly taking down a cross from Jordan Ayew.

Chelsea were unable to respond to the equaliser due to the late nature of the strike and were forced to go into the half-time break level with Crystal Palace at 1-1 despite being on top for large spells in the half.

Mauricio Pochettino sought to ring the changes after halftime, and made two changes before the hour mark, bringing on Thiago Silva and giving summer signing Romeo Lavia his long-awaited Chelsea debut.

Chelsea’s best chance of the second half came to Nicholas Jackson, who only had to beat Dean Henderson in goal but fluffed his lines at the most important moment.

The Senegalese striker thought he had amends for his miss after poking home from just outside the six-yard box, but the goal was ruled off for offside after an extensive VAR check.

Chelsea’s profligacy almost came back to haunt them as Thiago Silva’s glaring error was pounced on by Jeffrey Schlupp who found Olise in space before the Blues were rescued by goalkeeper, Dorde Petrovic.

With the Blues staring another disappointing result in the face, they were handed a lifeline when Madueke was fouled in the penalty and referee Michael Salisbury pointed to the spot after consulting with the VAR monitor.

Madueke, who won the penalty was tasked with taking and made no mistake from the spot to secure three valuable points for Chelsea against Crystal Palace.

The win sees Chelsea move into the top half of the Premier League table as they leapfrog Bournemouth and Wolves to end the game week in 10th.