Crystal Palace 2-1

Independent:

Oscar and Cesc Fabregas strike to maintain Chelsea's unbeaten record

Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 2

By MIGUEL DELANEY

Chelsea may not have had Diego Costa, but they suffered no repeat of last season’s defeat at Selhurst Park. The difference could be seen in Jose Mourinho’s colourful reaction, even if he would only write the words rather than say them.

Back in March, after Tony Pulis’s Palace had inflicted a 1-0 defeat which badly damaged Chelsea’s title challenge, the Portuguese was asked what they were missing. He wrote “balls” on a piece of paper. This time, asked why they won, he wrote “big balls”.
It was difficult to dispute. This was a testosterone-filled game featuring an awful lot of aggression and red cards for Cesar Azpilicueta and Delaney– but also, crucially, a 2-1 Chelsea victory.
They showed physicality but also plenty of finesse. That could be seen in the beautifully flighted delivery of Oscar’s opening goal, and then the Brazilian’s divine exchange with Cesc Fabregas to enable the Spanish midfielder to score the second.
The lively Fraizer Campbell gave Chelsea a few nerves with a late strike to make it 2-1, but by then, Mourinho’s team had more than shown their mettle.
“I said yesterday, in [Palace’s] game [physicality], they are better than us,” Mourinho stated. “If we come here and don’t impose our game, we have no chance. From minute one to 94, we imposed our game. We had the ball. We were always in control.”
That is mostly, but not completely, true. Palace started better and could have had three in the opening minutes. Yannick Bolasie was giving Branislav Ivanovic plenty of problems, but Campbell was giving Gary Cahill even more, though he squandered a series of chances he had done so well to create.
Then Damien Delaney took down Willian, which allowed Oscar to curl an exceptional free-kick into the far corner of the net. Chelsea were 1-0 up but not completely on top. Without Costa, they were playing a little further back, and Palace were all too willing to try to intimidate Loïc Rémy, mostly through Delaney and Mile Jedinak.
That led to a few meaty challenges, and what seemed an element of retribution from Azpilicueta. Even so, there was no excuse for his wild challenge on Jedinak, which brought a deserved red card on 40 minutes. Fabregas might have been lucky to stay on the field after a flare-up with Campbell, but Delaney could have no complaints moments later after receiving a second yellow card for attempting to haul back Rémy.
Chelsea soon got their second goal, which left Mourinho purring. “My team had a fantastic performance,” he said. “From minute one we did what we wanted to do, have the ball, use the ball and control the game. The second goal was a scandal. It is unbelievably good!”
That was hard to dispute. Fabregas exchanged passes with Eden Hazard and Oscar before Rémy’s peeling run allowed the Spanish midfielder to step forward and slot the ball past Julian Speroni.
Palace could have few complaints, but that didn’t stop Neil Warnock offering some criticism of referee Craig Pawson for not booking John Terry for a similar foul to Delaney’s, even if the Palace manager did not exactly absolve his Irish centre-half: “Silly thing to do, to give the referee a decision to make. Even if the team [Chelsea] surrounded the ref. I thought they influenced him at times today, but he’s young. Inexperience, I guess. If that was my player, I thought John Terry would have been booked for definite. I thought the ref left a lot to be desired.”
Substitute Wilfried Zaha provided the cross for Campbell to score, but it was too little, too late.

Crystal Palace (4-5-1): Speroni; Kelly, Hangeland, Delaney, Ward; Puncheon (Zaha, 69), McArthur (Guedioura, 69), Jedinak, Ledley (Mariappa, 58), Bolasie; Campbell.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Matic, Fabregas; Willian (Filipe Luis, 42), Oscar, Hazard (Salah, 86); Rémy (Drogba, 90).

Referee: Craig Pawson.
Man of the match: Oscar (Chelsea)
Match rating: 7/10

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Observer:

Chelsea stay top after Cesc Fàbregas nets winner at Crystal Palace
C Palace 1 - 2 Chelsea

Dominic Fifield at Selhurst Park

Chelsea had stumbled in this corner of south-east London back in the spring, the deficiencies with which they had been saddled at the time exposed by workaholic opponents. A little under seven months on, they used their return as an opportunity to demonstrate the steel that has been instilled in the interim. They are a team transformed.
José Mourinho has recognised as much. Back in March he had scribbled the word “balls” on a journalist’s notepad at this venue having been asked what his players had lacked when succumbing to Crystal Palace. He took up his pen again post-match here, scrawling “big balls” to sum up what had made the difference this time round. This had been awkward, a fractious occasion which saw players from both sides dismissed before the interval, but it ended up feeling like a show of strength played out largely to a tempo Chelsea imposed.
Their dominance was underlined by two moments of jaw-dropping quality conjured by a fluid and inventive midfield, players revelling in Nemanja Matic’s leggy presence at their back, though it was the visitors’ ease in possession which truly separated them from their spirited hosts.
In March they had been drawn into attempting to compete physically with an imposing Palace team. Here they preferred to ping passes merrily among themselves and bypass Palace’s industry. The home side may have started brightly and finished with a flurry, courtesy of Wilfried Zaha embarrassing Filipe Luis to set up Fraizer Campbell for a consolation, but they had been eclipsed for long periods. The narrow scoreline was actually rather deceptive.
Admittedly it helped that the dismissals of César Azpilicueta and Damien Delaney opened up vast expanses of space in which Chelsea could prosper, but they could still take heart from the fact they achieved all this without Diego Costa, the Spain international absent resting his hamstring for the foreseeable future. “Our only chance was to impose our game and, from minute one to 94, we did that,” said Mourinho. “We had the ball. We were always in control. We were always very far from our box. People moved the ball well. We played between the lines. And we played very well: the way Matic, Fàbregas and Oscar moved when it was 10 against 10 was fantastic.
“We are a better team than last season. There has been a clear evolution in our team, and not just because we brought in two fantastic players [Fàbregas and Costa]. One of them wasn’t playing today, but our team was still fantastic. I’m pleased. But to win the title, it’s a long way away.”
They remain five points clear, their blistering start maintained and, even with Costa resting, they threaten to plunder goals throughout their lineup. Campbell and Brede Hangeland may have gone close early on for Palace, but the real bite was Chelsea’s. When Delaney stretched and connected illegally with Willian 20 yards out, Oscar strode up to belt the resultant free-kick majestically beyond a despairing Julián Speroni and into the top right-hand corner. The 23-year-old had only returned from Brazil’s friendly thrashing of Japan in Singapore on Thursday. It was as if he had never been away.
Delaney would not see out the half, his first caution delivered after he slid in on Loïc Rémy and his second, almost served up as an afterthought by the referee, flashed for pulling back the same player. There were covering defenders that time which made the offence unnecessary, though Palace’s real frustration was the fact they had enjoyed a man’s advantage for under four minutes. The momentum should have been theirs after Azpilicueta’s untidy lunge, studs up, into Mile Jedinak, but hope proved horribly short-lived. The Spaniard’s challenge had been wild and right in front of the overworked official, Craig Pawson.
In truth, the referee cut an increasingly fraught figure amid the niggles and was subjected to Neil Warnock’s bellowed exasperation in the tunnel as the teams retired at the break, the home manager’s gripe perceived inconsistency. “I thought [Chelsea] influenced him at times, but he’s young,” said the Palace manager. “It’s inexperience, I guess. John Terry should have been booked for definite [for fouling Campbell] earlier on, and that set a precedent.”
His team competed for all but the lull at the start of the second half, but momentum had effectively been sucked from their display by Delaney’s departure. Fàbregas duly confirmed as much, the Spaniard exchanging passes with Eden Hazard and Oscar as he danced between dizzied defenders to convert inside Speroni’s near-post as the goalkeeper slumped the other way.
It was a goal of beauty, the classy passing and movement untouchable, and it knocked both stuffing and ambition out of the hosts until their stoppage time consolation. “The second goal was a scandal, unbelievably good,” added Mourinho. His team have shown they are capable of such brilliance. A season of opportunity beckons.

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Telegraph:

Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 2, Premier League: Jose Mourinho's side remain top after dominant victory
By Jim White, Selhurst Park

Hosts out-thought, out-paced and above all out-played by a Jose Mourinho side that purred at Selhurst Park

It was, according to Jose Mourinho, a matter of “big balls”. And he wasn’t referring to the scale of the object being kicked around the Selhurst Park pitch.
Asked what was the difference in his team’s performance compared to last season, when they had been embarrassed at Crystal Palace, the Chelsea manager reached for a reporters’ notebook and gleefully wrote out the two words in capitals.
“In that game [last March] they were better than us,” he added, by way of elucidation. “Today, from minute one to minute 94 we imposed our game, we were always in control. I think we played very, very well.”
He was right there. Rarely can a scoreline have given as inadequate summary as this. There was nothing close, tight or even about Chelsea’s 2-1 victory. The only area of the game in which Crystal Palace matched their visitors was in the production of red cards: both sides ended the game with 10 men. The difference was that Chelsea looked as if they had at least half a dozen more than their ever spirited opponents.
“Ten against 10 is easier than 11 against 11,” claimed Mourinho. “We spoke about that at half-time. The way my players demonstrated that fact was magnificent.”
As it always is, Selhurst Park was noisy in its anticipation of this derby. The welcome from the home fans as Mourinho and his team took the field was not exactly friendly. A banner was flourished in the home stand that read: “Roman’s dirty money is a disease that has plagued our game."
But it was not money alone that made the difference here. Abramovich’s source of income may not be one which withstands the most vigorous of ethical analysis, but never mind where the cash has come from, there is no question his manager has spent it well. For 90 minutes in south London his expensively acquired assets gelled to perfection.
Quick, fluid and intelligent in their running, the Chelsea midfield spent the second half of this game so dominant in possession, two Palace subs waited for a good 10 minutes on the touchline attempting to come on as their visitors played keep ball.
Chelsea had started as they intended to go on. With Willian, Oscar and Eden Hazard endlessly switching position, and behind them Cesc Fabregasceaselessly prompting, the visitors had Palace immediately on their heels.
After five minutes, Damien Delaney, who was to have a most uncomfortable afternoon, fouled Willian. A free-kick was awarded some 30 yards out, but Oscar was hardly concerned by such a distance. He bent his kick perfectly up and over the wall, past Julián Speroni into the goal.
Palace came immediately back. Less subtle in their movement, relying largely on pace they may have been, but they refused to be cowed. Briefly in the first half speed threatened to be enough. On 11 minutes, Fraizer Campbell harried Gary Cahill, flicked the ball ahead of Thibault Courtois but pushed it over bar.
Three minutes later, the Palace man’s pace again discomforted Cahill, leaving him stranded as the forward dashed goalwards. Campbell shot left-footed across Courtois, but the ball skimmed past the far post.
The frantic pace and growing passion came to the boil just before half-time. César Azpilicueta was sent off by Craig Pawson for a miscontrolled two-footed slide on Mile Jedinak.
“The point is not to worry if fair or not fair,” Mourinho said of the sending-off. “The point is to think quick and make decisions.”
He did that, sending on Felipe Luis for Willian and quickly rearranging his midfield.
Unfortunately for the home side’s hopes, however, their superiority in numbers lasted but four minutes. Delaney, already booked for a challenge on the electric-heeled Loïc Rémy, again attempted to slow the player by tugging at his shirt. It drew a second yellow card from the referee’s pocket.
As a very angry Palace fan in a black jacket was evicted from crowd, as the challenges flew in, each soundtracked by baying howls from the crowd, Mourinho was already making his way to the dressing room, plotting how best to exploit the circumstance.
His organisational rearrangement bore immediate fruit. Fàbregas, the wellspring of so much of the visitors’ endeavour, was the first to seize advantage of the extra spaces available. Five minutes into the second half, he exchanged passes with Hazard and Oscar before striding into the Palace area and firing low past Speroni. It was a lovely strike, indicative of Chelsea’s team work.
“The second goal was a scandal it was unbelievably good,” purred Mourinho.
His counterpart Neil Warnock, meanwhile, was less impressed. Semaphoring his anger, he implored his team to get forward. Perhaps spotting their manager’s rising agitation on the touchline, Palace were not about to give up.
Chelsea’s domination of the ball may have been almost total, the home side may have been pushed deeper and deeper, relying increasingly on hoof and hope, but Campbell got due reward for his unceasing endeavour when he tapped home Wilfried Zaha’s cross as injury time beckoned.
It was never going to be enough. Sensing the meaning of the win, the Chelsea fans had spent the last 20 minutes of the game chanting: “We are top of the league.”
As they did so they were bathed in unseasonably warm sun. They cannot have been alone in taking it as a symbol of Chelsea’s shining season.

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Times:

Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 2: Red card complicates routine task

Andrew Longmore

A PREDICTABLE result, but a strange game. The Premier League leaders were never in danger of losing, but Cesar Azpilicueta’s sending off just before half-time seemed certain to complicate a relatively straightforward afternoon. At the time, Chelsea were ahead through a beautifully struck free kick by Oscar, and John Terry’s 500th game as captain was going much according to plan.
But just as Crystal Palace were sniffing a way back into the game, Damien Delaney earned his second booking of the half for another rash challenge and the numbers were evened up. 11 v 10 might have been a contest, 10 v 10 only emphasised Chelsea’s individual superiority and once Cesc Fabregas had doubled the lead just after the break, Palace had nowhere to go.
Chelsea’s manager, Jose Mourinho, was still intent on keeping up his growing feud with the Spanish football federation over Diego Costa, who played twice for Spain in the international break but, according to the Chelsea manager, returned to his club injured. “He [Costa] will be in perfect condition in time for the national team in mid-November,” said Mourinho sarcastically. The Spaniard’s replacement, Loic Remy, did nothing to lessen Mourinho’s irritation. The Frenchman was anonymous again yesterday and with back-to-back Champions League games against Maribor and visits to Old Trafford and Anfield in the coming weeks, Chelsea will need Costa’s cutting edge. Not that the idiocy of Delaney, who had been warned countless times by referee, Craig Pawson, stopped Palace’s manager, Neil Warnock, from launching an attack on the official.
“Put it this way, the referee has had better days,” said Warnock. “It was a silly thing [for Delaney to do], but I thought John Terry should have been booked and that set a precedent. I thought they influenced it out there.”
Oscar’s goal was a beauty, a free kick curled into the top corner with the minimum of fuss. The goal rather took the wind out of Palace’s sails and Chelsea, prompted by Willian, began to dictate the tempo of the game until Azpilicueta inexplicably lunged in late and high on Mile Jedinak and was given a straight red card.
Delaney, who had given away the free kick for the opening goal and been booked for another tackle, followed Azpilicueta down the tunnel for a second yellow card soon after. Warnock was apoplectic on the touchline, but Palace’s chance of seeing much more of the game disappeared with Delaney’s departure.
“The only thing we didn’t do was score a third goal to kill the game. But from minute one to minute 94 we imposed our game on them,” said Mourinho.
Fabregas elegantly scored Chelsea’s second to effectively seal Chelsea’s seventh win of the season, despite Campbell’s late consolation.

Star man: Oscar (Chelsea)

Crystal Palace: Speroni 6, Kelly 6, Hangeland 6, Delaney 4, Ward 6, Jedinak 6, Ledley 6 (Mariappa 58min, 6), Puncheon 7 (Zaha 69min), McArthur 6 (Guedioura 69min), Bolasie 7, Campbell 7

Chelsea: Courtois 5, Ivanovic 6, Cahill 5, Terry 6, Azpilicueta 4, Fabregas 7, Matic 7, Willian 7 (Luis 42min, 6), Oscar 8, Hazard 6 (Salah 86min), Remy 5 (Drogba 90min)

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Mail:

Crystal Palace 1-2 Chelsea: Oscar and Cesc Fabregas score in away win
By Patrick Collins

Cesc Fabregas saw the question coming from a hundred yards distance, and his answer was splendidly dismissive. ‘Do we feel invincible?’ he echoed. ‘This is a joke. Arsenal went unbeaten in 2003–4. That will never happen again.’
As a young player at Arsenal during that golden season, Fabregas is eminently qualified to make the judgment. But Chelsea have 22 points from the 24 available. The question will be repeated a time or two.
His manager, Jose Mourinho, has been making the same response for most of October. And yet, after such a start, he is prepared to make cautious noises about the title. ‘If we were in another league, I’d say immediately, “Yes, we will do it”. In the Premier League, we “can” do it. But it’s hard to say we “will” do it. There’s a long way to go. There’s lots of good teams and difficult games in front of us. I’m pleased, but to win the title, it’s a long way away.’
True, all true, but there is something in Chelsea’s attitude which provokes outrageous expectations. It is clear that titles are not won at places like Selhurst Park, although Chelsea might concede that they lost last season’s crown through defeat at Palace. They might also admit that Saturday's victory could have been much more emphatic had Mourinho not insisted on restraint rather than aggression when Palace were there for the taking. Finally, they might agree that their back four is suspiciously vulnerable to genuine pace, which could prove costly against more potent sides than the one they met.
But, after making all those concessions, they will be satisfied with the three points they expected from a strangely eccentric match.
Everything is falling into place for Mourinho’s team. Even when they lost Cesar Azpilicueta to a red card on 40 minutes, Damien Delaney obligingly committed a second bookable offence within two minutes to restore the numerical balance. Chelsea then settled to unchallenged control; good players doing the simple things to emphatic effect.
Oscar’s stunning free- kick had given them the lead within six minutes, and when Fabregas drove in the second soon after the interval, their task seemed blessedly simple.
And yet control did not yield further goals, and they endured the closing moments in a state of something akin to panic, when Palace substitute Wilfried Zaha created a tap-in for deserving Fraizer Campbell.
The eventful afternoon ended in traditional fashion, with the Palace manager, Neil Warnock, on the pitch, bawling at the referee and even his oen players.
The Palace fans had greeted their visitors with a cheery pre-match banner which read: ‘Roman’s dirty money is a disease that has plagued our game’.
The tone having been set, Palace made a bright start, speedily deploying Campbell and Yannick Bolasie.
But all the promise was deflated within six minutes when they conceded a free-kick 25 yards out. Oscar’s crashing strike reduced the chance to casual simplicity, the ball flying into the far top corner.
Mourinho has journalists in stitches, writing 'big balls' on notepad

Crystal Palace: Speroni 6, Kelly 6, Hangeland 6, Delaney 4, Ward 6.5, McArthur 5.5 (Guerdioura 69), Jedinak 6.5, Ledley 5 (Mariappa 58), Puncheon 6 (Zaha 69), Campbell 7.5, Bolasie 7.
Subs not used: Doyle, Hennessey, Gayle, Chamakh.
Goal: Campbell 90
Booked: Delaney, Campbell
Sent off: Delaney 43

Chelsea: Courtois 6.5, Ivanovic 6, Terry 7.5, Cahill 5.5, Azpilicueta 4.5, Matic 7, Fabregas 8.5, Willian 5.5 (Luis 42), Oscar 8, Hazard 6.5 (Salah 86), Remy 7 (Drogba 90+1).
Subs: Cech, Zouma, Mikel, Solanke.
Goals: Oscar 2, Fabregas 51
Booked: Fabregas
Sent off: Azpilicueta 40

Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)
Attendance: 24,451
Ratings by JACK GAUGHAN at Selhurst Park

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Mirror:

Crystal Palace 1-2 Chelsea: Jose Mourinho praises his invinci-balls after victory at Palace's bearpit

By Dave Kidd
 
The ten-man Blues overcame their equally short-handed opponents in a feisty clash in South London


It's become a tradition that when Jose Mourinho visits Selhurst Park, he writes the first answer of his press ­conference on to a reporter’s notepad.
Last season when Chelsea’s title bid was severely damaged by a 1-0 defeat at this south London bearpit, Mourinho was asked what his team were lacking – and he scribbled the word ‘BALLS’. Asked yesterday why they had passed this same test of fire with a certain degree of stone-cold majesty, the manager jotted down ‘BIG BALLS’.
And although this was John Terry’s 500th game as Chelsea skipper, and although the ever-modest ‘captain, leader, legend’ had made a note of this fact on the vest beneath his shirt, Mourinho was not referring to Terry’s type of testicular fortitude.
He was referring to the way in which Chelsea had the nerve to impose their pure, passing game on a Crystal Palace side capable of ­out-muscling the best of them at a stadium which throbs and rattles to the din of a crowd with no respect for eardrums.
Even without the injured goal machine Diego Costa, a street-fighter of a striker who was born for tests like this, Chelsea extended their unbeaten start to the League campaign to eight matches.
Oscar and Cesc Fabregas provided velvety goals early in either half and even when Cesar Azpilicueta was sent off shortly before half-time, Loic Remy had the cunning to earn Palace’s Damien Delaney a second yellow card less than two minutes later.
After jotting down his tribute to the size of his side’s crown jewels, Mourinho said: “The way we imposed our game is what I mean. In the way they play, they are better than us.
“If we come here and don’t impose our game, we have no chance. From minute one to 94, we did that. We were always in control. We played a fantastic game and when it was ten versus ten, it made it even easier. The second goal was a scandal, it was unbelievably good!”
Palace started well, with Fraizer Campbell making a nuisance of himself, before Willian won Chelsea a moment of calm, Delaney bringing down the Brazilian 25 yards out.
Oscar measured up the angles and curled the dead ball close to the top corner of the net.
Campbell embarrassed Gary Cahill twice, lobbing onto the roof of the net when the England centre-back misjudged an attempted clearance and then skinning him only to shoot wide.
But John Terry had a header cleared off the line by James McArthur before Thibaut Courtois was stretched in quick succession by Yannick Bolassie and Jason Puncheon.
Then, bedlam. First Azpilicueta flew into a late, wild challenge (below) on Mile Jedinak, Terry lunged at ref Craig Pawson as soon as he spotted the red card emerging, as Fabregas and Campbell exchanged handbags.

But Palace’s numerical advantage lasted for less than two minutes, as Delaney hauled down Loic Remy for the second time in ten minutes for a second booking.
Palace boss Neil Warnock insisted: “It was a silly thing to do, to give the referee a decision to make. In slow motion, though, he pulls him back and then he goes down, but their team surrounded the ref. I thought Chelsea influenced him at times today.”
Nemanja Matic squandered a free header before the break and ­Mourinho left his technical area early to make a beeline for the dressing-room.
Whatever he said had the desired effect as Fabregas exchanged passes with Hazard and Oscar before tucking in the ball with a bedtime story and a lullaby.
Chelsea strutted their stuff for most of the second half but when Wilfried Zaha arrived as a sub, he crossed low for Campbell to tap home a consolation.
“In another sort of League, I could already say we WILL be champions,” said ­Mourinho.
“In the Premier League, I can only say that we can be.”

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Express:

Crystal Palace 1 - Chelsea 2: Fabregas fires first to keep Mourinho’s men on target

JOSE MOURINHO will not say so just yet, but Chelsea really are the next Premier League champions if this is anything to go by.

By: Colin Mafham

Forget the closeness of the scoreline, there was always a big difference in class between his unbeaten table-toppers and Palace yesterday, as Cesc Fabregas scored his first league goal for Chelsea.
And, as a genial Jose did concede, they would be crowned already if they were playing in any other league.
Echoing the words of America’s President Obama, he said: “Yes we can do it – and in any other league I would say we will.
“But in the Premier League it is much more difficult and all I can say right now is that I have a magnificent squad that can do it.”
You didn’t have to wait long to see why he’s so cock-a-hoop, why Chelsea are where they are, and why Palace’s Neil Warnock has tipped them for the title from the word go. Six minutes, to be precise, with a goal worthy of an Oscar in more ways than one.
The young Brazilian, revelling in the midfield general role Mourinho has given him, stepped up to take the free-kick his fellow countryman, Willian, won 20 yards out. The finish into the top corner was sublime.
No wonder his so elegantly suited and booted boss jumped out of the dugout out to applaud it. No wonder, either, that Julian Speroni literally didn’t see it coming.
The same could also be said soon afterwards when the Palace keeper had James McArthur to thank for clearing a John Terry header off the line.
Credit to Palace, they’re nobody’s pushovers – not even Chelsea’s – and Fraizer Campbell and Yannick Bolasie both stretched and tested the visitors in an opening half that had much to commend it.
Until five very distasteful final first-half minutes, that is. That cancelled out many of the good things that had gone before, producing a terrible tackle, two red cards and players harassing the ref to get opponents sent off.
The unacceptable face of football in all its glory. Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta was the first to see red after a dreadful studs-up lunge at Mile Jedinak.
He deserved to go, but the way the Palace players sought his departure didn’t do the game any favours.
The same can be said when Damien Delaney got his marching orders soon afterwards for a second yellow card.
This time it was Chelsea players who chased referee Craig Pawson to dish out justice for them – and make it 10-aside.
Palace boss Neil Warnock said his side “played some cracking stuff” but he rued Delaney’s dismissal, and the referee’s performance.
“Silly thing to do, to give the referee a decision like that,” he said. “Half the Chelsea team surrounded the ref. I thought they influenced him at times today.”
Chelsea’s second goal, from Fabregas, was just as wonderfully executed as Oscar’s. This time, though, it was all on the ground.
The Spaniard started and finished the move following a superb little one-two with Eden Hazard and Oscar that split Palace wide open. Even the Palace faithful, usually so vociferous with their support, were silenced.
They found their voices again two minutes from normal time, though, when substitute Wilfried Zaha produced a bit of magic to set up Campbell for a close-range goal.

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Star:

Crystal Palace 1 - Chelsea 2: Oscar and Cesc Fabregas help Blues show title credentials

ROLL out the bunting, start the band. Give the title to Chelsea now.

 By Tony Stenson

They survived a controversial visit to Palace to show they could be football's next Invincibles.
Unbeaten in eight games and today without top scorer Diego Costa, they still have a few more gears to go through.
They are top of the league and you feel they are going to stay there despite Frazier Campbell scoring an 88th-minute consolation fro Palace after a bit of magic from sub Wilfried Zaha.
Even Chelsea's goals were out of the top drawer yesterday.
First came a superb free-kick from Oscar and then there was a delightful dance through the Palace defence by Cesc Fabregas for the second.
That goal came with both teams down to 10 men.
The Spaniard took return passes from first Eden Hazard and then Oscar to score.
It was pure delight, the type of quality that wins titles along with having the grit to take on a side like Palace who refuse to lie down.
Last season, Chelsea lost at Palace to a John Terry own goal - but this is a different Chelsea.
They never buckled and played wonderful one-touch football, even when Cesar Azpilicueta was sent-off in the 40th minute for a stud-high lunge on Mile Jedinak.
But Palace found themselves in the same position two minute later when Damien Delaney saw red for a second yellow card, both brandished for fouls on Loic Remy.
Oscar was the real star - skilful, audacious and a joy to watch.
He scored the opener with a stunning 6th-minute free-kick after Delaney chopped down Willian and made the other Blues goal.
Palace's response to going behind saw Campbell just looping over and then whipping another attempt wide a few minutes later.
We had a game on our hands.
Palace were gutsy, determined and brave, creating moments of mayhem - but overall you always believed they were trying to stem a tide
Neil Warnock's men avoided going further behind when Kames McArthur cleared Terry's header off the line following Fabregas' 19th-minute corner.
Yannick Bolasie forced Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois to stretch high to clutch a 25th-minute cross destined for the far corner as Palace refuse to lie down.
But the two dismissals altered the game, with Chelsea having more quality with 10-men than Palace, which they underlined with Fabregas' second-half beauty.
But Palace didn't help themselves either as, for five minutes, they played with nine men after McArthur limped off. With Mourinho and Warnock shouting for the ball to be kicked into touch, Palace bizarrely played on.
Warnock said: "The sending-off was a silly thing to do as Damien gave the referee a decision to make.
"Yes, in slow motion he pulls him back and then he goes down. But I thought the Chelsea players influenced the ref at times today.
"It's just inexperience, I guess.
"I thought John Terry should have been booked for definite. His challenge was a booking as much as anything.
"For me, that set a precedent.
"I thought the ref left a lot to be desired. He has had better days.
"But overall, we played really well, we should have scored two or three in the first half and I really enjoyed it.
"It's just disappointing as, on another day, we might well have got a result if some things had gone our way."
On the downside for Chelsea, they will be without top striker Costa for Tuesday's Champions League game against Maribor.
Mourinho said: "No, he can't play on Tuesday. I have no idea when he can play.
"All I know is he went to the national team and played in two big matches against Slovakia and Luxembourg and he has come back in a condition where he's not available to play for his club."