Chelsea lead at Selhurst Park! Estevao Willian has just scored a brilliant solo goal to put the Blues in front.
It’s been a poor game in truth. Chelsea had no shots on target up to this point, and Palace had just one. It really felt like we were drifting to half time without much chance of a goal.
Estevao’s wonderful moment puts Blues ahead
But just a few seconds after a Crystal Palace free kick, the thrilling Brazilian winger was racing through on goal. He picked up on a long back pass and raced clear of the chasing defenders. Tyrick Mitchell closed the gap, but Estevao pulled him across the box to buy more time as he closed in, then fired one of his trademark no backlift finishes into the net.
You can see the goal in the clips embedded here:
Estevao with a moment of beauty for Chelsea!
pic.twitter.com/HRyyX9U6zn
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 25, 2026
[Footage from Sky Sports]
It really was a phenomenally exciting moment. Estevao has not scored since November, and despite some bright cameos isn’t yet a fully established starter. But he’s been given a chance today and it’s paid off. He’s barely been given the ball, yet when he’s had one small chances he’s snatched it.
With Palace now forced to push forward, we look forward to seeing what the dangerman can produce in the second half, with more space to work in. We’ve seen how devastating he can be on the counter here, and the number of chances he gets should only increase.
What’s vital is keeping Palace away from our goal.
In other news…
Cole Palmer is not in the team today, and before kick off Liam Rosenior spoke a little about the injury status of his key creative star.
Jamie Carragher has been speaking about Chelsea’s chances of winning the league, and has said that nobody is worried about that happening with this current model in place.
