Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel: “We were hungry.”

• Havertz scored the opener before Pulisic and Zouma added more goals.

• Thomas Tuchel's team got off to a brilliant start in South London, scoring two goals inside the opening ten minutes.
  

For the first time, Chelsea scored more than two goals in a match under manager Thomas Tuchel. [Getty]

FT: Crystal Palace 1-4 Chelsea.

Kai Havertz put in a superb display for Chelsea as the Blues eased to a 4-1 triumph over Crystal Palace on Saturday evening, and Thomas Tuchel revealed after the game that his players were hungry. The 21-year-old, who has been under immense scrutiny following his move from Bayern Leverkusen to Stamford Bridge last summer, opened the scoring at Selhurst Park in the 8th minute with a sublime finish and USA international Christian Pulisic doubled the lead two minutes after. The west London club could have scored more as they dominated the first half, with Havertz hassling the Eagles' defence at every opportunity. Kurt Zouma headed home his fifth goal of the 2020-21 campaign to make it 3-0 on the half-an-hour mark as Roy Hodgson’s boys struggled to keep up. Palace eventually responded in the 62nd minute via Christian Benteke, who found the net with a header, but Pulisic registered his second shortly after to wrap up the victory. Following the clash, Tuchel admitted that he was delighted to see his side get back to winning ways after their 5-2 loss to West Brom last weekend.

He told Sky Sports: "The first half an hour was excellent. We were very hungry, very aggressive, and got a lot of recoveries in the final third. It was a deserved lead. After 35 minutes we dropped a little in position and got a little bit sloppy.

“We continued like this a little in the second half but it was a good reaction after their goal. We created a lot of chances and didn't concede any big chances. "Clearly we had many chances today. The guys were hungry and creative. We had a lot of good runs and good movement. We put pressure on ourselves to have the right response. It was a step in the right direction.

"I am not disappointed [with Kai Havertz] but he could have actually scored more. He had two big chances to finish the game off. This is the way.

“He has absolute quality. He needs to show his quality and that is the challenge for him." The German continued: "Everything was bad against West Brom (last week). The result was horrible but the stats were not as bad. Today we were very hungry, full of confidence and wanted to play a very aggressive game in terms of high recoveries. We were totally focused. It was good with the attitude today. It's a part of our DNA to be aggressive and should be. We showed that today. "Of course I came to England for the targets which was to finish in the top four. We have our own way to go. We need results continually. We had a set-back last week but it is not the moment to look at other teams all the time. We are in the middle of the race. It's the target to finish there but it will be tough until the last end."

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