Chelsea have extended their unbeaten start to the season to 11 games and Maurizio Sarri has admitted that Eden Hazard’s late involvement to the match was very significant.
The Blues won the tie 3-1 at Stamford Bridge but in the second half Andros Townsend equalised for Palace. Sarri decided to bring Eden Hazard off the substitutes' bench in order to seal victory against Crystal Palace. And when asked if the Blues needed Hazard to beat the south London side, Sarri said: “Yes we did! We were a little bit in trouble so we needed some quality and personalty.
“We were lucky because we had Eden [Hazard] on the bench. He was able to immediately change the match.
"Today it was very important to have him on the bench. I spoke yesterday with the doctor and he said Hazard was doing better but, for me, is not able to play for 90 minutes.
"So I asked for the bench, and he said I could try. But no more than 30 minutes. We were lucky. Immediately, the first minute, I think, he was able to change our match. But you know Hazard is Hazard. He's able to do this very often."