Moses Yet To To Exorcise His Injury Demons As Chelsea Left Counting The Costs Again

Premier League whipping boys Crystal Palace gave their flagging campaign a massive boost with a 2-1 upset against Chelsea yesterday and perhaps, there were vivid themes that arose from the insipid showing the Blues armoury had put up.

When Victor Moses went down clutching his hamstring five minutes before halftime, the signs were shockingly ominous for Chelsea and even a bewildered Antonio Conte would have had goose bumps before inevitably readying Davide Zappacosta for a change.

Roy Hodgson's men had already nudged themselves in front for their first goal of the season early on with an unfortunate own goal from Cesar Azpilicueta before Tiémoué Bakayoko headed in his maiden Premier League goal to haul his side back level.

Yet, the blues were already missing two of their most influential players in Ngolo Kante and Alvaro Morata,and the mere prospect of having another who would bring shape and balance to their play out was surely enough to disrupt their blue print tactically.

What followed next then,was unscripted — Mamadou Sakho powered deep into Chelsea's half and fed Wilfried Zaha.

The Ivorian who was having one of his best outings,turned the new comer,Zappacosta inside out, brilliantly jinked past Azpilicueta before placing his shot across Thibaut Courtois and into the bottom right.

That goal eventually turned out to be the winner and shortly before it came, the reality was unusually bleak for Chelsea at Selhurst Park.

Upfront,the Blues had looked so shorn of any meaningful goal-scoring threat and the mere sight of an ineffectual Batshuayi, who started in place of the injured Morata, alongside the disappointing Willian huffing around in frustration further summed up a miserable afternoon for the champions.

Following the defeat, Chelsea boss, Antonio Conte lamented his side's worsening injury situation, thus, "I think, in this moment,for us, it's a very difficult monent", he enthused.

"When you start a game without Morata and without Kante,it's not simple.

"Above all if, during the game, another important player in your team has an injury too like Victor Moses. I hope to have him back very soon because this moment is very difficult for us.

"To lose three or four players ... it's a big problem for us. But, despite this, we have to find the will to fight. I think this season will be very difficult and, for this reason, we have to put 150 percent in".

As for Moses, it seems the Nigerian is yet to truly exorcise his injury demons after having his career terribly stagnated with injuries from his time at Liverpool, Stoke City and West Ham United.

He has, so far started six of Chelsea's eight Premier League matches this term, having become a mainstay in the Blue's line-up during their title winning campaign last season.

Emmanuel Chinaza