PL News : Alvaro Morata inspires unbeaten Blues to victory

Morata scored twice to inspire Chelsea to a 3-1 London derby win over Crystal Palace and maintain the Blues' unbeaten start to the season.

The Spaniard opened up the scoring in the 32nd minute before Palace equalised when James McArthur's pass from deep in midfield found Andros Townsend, who finished off coolly eight minutes into the second half.

But the introduction of Eden Hazard proved the turning point as the Belgian set up Morata's second before Pedro ensured the three points with his low drive from Marcos Alonso's cross.

The result means Chelsea are still unbeaten this season under Maurizio Sarri, who has now equalled Frank Clark's record of 11 games without a loss set at Nottingham Forest in 1994.

Meanwhile, Palace languish just three points above the drop zone after failing to win a Premier League game since mid-September.

Chelsea's attempt to remain unbeaten and keep up the pace with Liverpool, who drew 1-1 away to Arsenal on Saturday, and leaders Manchester City, who thrashed Southampton on Sunday, was boosted by the return of Hazard to the Blues squad.

The Belgian had missed Chelsea's last three games with a back injury sustained in the 2-2 draw against Manchester United, but Sarri opted against starting him against Palace and instead sticking with the attacking trio of Willian, Pedro and Morata.

The move paid off, even if it took Chelsea 32 minutes to find the opener, which came when James Tomkins' attempted headed clearance was sent back into the box by Pedro where Morata was waiting to fire in.

The goal - Morata's fifth in all competitions this season - would have been a relief to Sarri who, up until that point, had been pacing up and down his technical area in frustration.

Chelsea were guilty in the early stages of the derby of giving the ball away on several occasions, which had allowed Palace to twice threaten through Max Meyer, who drew a save from Kepa Arrizabalaga and then a clearance from David Luiz.

But once Chelsea found the opener, they dominated the rest of the first half and looked like doing the same in the second until McArthur cut through the Chelsea midfield with a superb pass to Townsend, who out-paced Luiz to fire past Kepa in what was the visitors' first shot on target.

With a goal back in the derby, Palace sent men forwards although they needed Wayne Hennessey to twice save from the offside Morata and then Luiz.

Sarri reacted by sending on Hazard and Mateo Kovacic - and the substitutions worked immediately as just a minute later, it was the Belgian's free kick which was completely missed by the Palace defence and allowed Morata to drive in his second of the afternoon.

Pedro made it 3-1 not long afterwards to secure a win from a Chelsea performance that was unlike a Sarri team but one that came out on top in the end. - Evening Standard