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Slick passing, slick conditions, and a slick goal. 1-0, good guys at the half. Can Chelsea hang on? Can we add another goal? Hope so. There are certainly goals to be had here, with the terrible rainy, windy conditions always on the lookout to help or hinder in that regard.
Despite what looks like a minor tropical storm over Selhurst Park, some of Chelsea's passing has been commendably slick, with one-touch passes getting pinged around in triangles and lovely little combinations and one-twos getting played in the attacking third. We're looking less comfortable passing it around at back with Palace players breathing down our necks. But Terry's continued his strong defensive play from Monday night, while Zouma has produced another spectacular tackle already as well.
The goal was a bit of a throwback, too, with Fabregas releasing Costa down the right channel, the striker getting his head up and finding Oscar as the second runner with the pullback, leaving him with an easy tap-in finish.
The only blight on the half has been Eden Hazard's injury, the winger breaking himself while taking a rare shot. Quite unfortunate.
So, 1-0 at the half. The first 45 minutes of 2016 have gone rather swimmingly. More of the same, please.
COME ON, CHELSEA!