A much-needed win

“The game wasn’t as easy as one might think. Crystal Palace have been doing quite well lately under their new manager’s auspices. They’d come to Stamford Bridge with nothing to lose while we were in desperate need of three points,” said Petr.
The Blues took the lead after Torres’ strike, however the opponent managed to equalise soon thereafter. “We were lucky to have Ramires then, since he stepped in and made sure to put us in the lead again. And despite the fact that Crystal Palace did their best to give us a hard time, we managed to retain that lead. What’s worse is the fact that we failed to score from our goal opportunities once again. We had lots of them and yet put none to good use. That way we had to put way too much effort into those three points,” stated Petr.
He was otherwise happy with the result, however. “This game just confirmed the fact that Premier League matches are never a walk in the park, whoever your opponent may be. We acquired three essential points and if we win the next round, we’ll be moving up to the top spot.”
The top to the table is unusually even; there are merely nominal differences among the current top five. “The best teams in the League comprise only the best players out there. Hence the evenness. Southampton are out, though, and they were actually three points away from the lead at one point. Everton are keeping up just fine, although that is hardly a surprise. They’ve got a consolidated team led by a new manager.”
Manchester United are as of now the only traditional “rivals” who do not seem to be able to stay within reach of the title. “They’ve been losing points toward the end of games. They’re quite far from the top as of now but that might just be the inevitable consequence of changing their manager for the first time in more than 25 years. Therefore it’s not particularly surprising,” added Petr.