Crystal Palace need to be thanking Eddie Howe and Newcastle United | OneFootball

I tuned in to watch the match today between Chelsea and Crystal Palace.

I was amused in the build up to this match by all the hype surrounding the home side.

It is laughable how fawning the media are with Chelsea.

Journalists queuing up to hype them out at any opportunity.

Whilst choosing to all but totally ignore the shameful way their club is run, the sickening amounts of money the owners are allowed to pump into the club to buy players, whilst their ticket touting owner Boehly continues to facilitate the ripping off of fans from every club, including Chelsea, via the Vivid tickets ticket touting site.

Anyway, today was obviously supposed to be a stroll for the wonderful Chelsea, a Chelsea who I see as no better than before, who fluked a top four finish last season when unconvincing so much of the time.

The disrespect for Crystal Palace from pundits and media was astonishing ahead of this game at Stamford Bridge.

Just look at Palace’s last 11 results in competitive games…

16 April 2025 – Newcastle 5 Crystal Palace 0

19 April 2025 – Crystal Palace 0 Bournemouth 0

23 April 2025 – Arsenal 2 Crystal Palace 2

26 April 2025 – Aston Villa 0 Crystal Palace 3 (FA Cup semi-final)

5 May 2025 – Crystal Palace 1 Forest 1

11 May 2025 – Tottenham 0 Crystal Palace 2

17 May 2025 – Man City 0 Crystal Palace 1 (FA Cup final)

20 May 2025 – Crystal Palace 4 Wolves 2

25 May 2025 – Liverpool 1 Crystal Palace 1

10 August 2025 – Liverpool 2 Crystal Palace 2 – Palace win 3-2 on penalties (Community Shield)

17 August 2025 – Chelsea 0 Crystal Palace 0

Yes, Crystal Palace need to be thanking Eddie Howe and Newcastle United, since that 5-0 hammering at St James’ Park they are unbeaten the past four months.

Smashing Villa and Man City at Wembley to win the FA Cup, returning to Wembley to do the same to Liverpool in the Community Shield, unbeaten against the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham, Forest, Chelsea and Liverpool (again).

Yet they have been cheated by UEFA with European competitions with a rule that doesn’t appear to exist for Man City and so many others, today they were cheated at Chelsea by a rule that never appears to exist for the chosen few, when Eze scored a free-kick, only for it to be disallowed because Guehi was standing within one metre of the wall.

I have no love for Crystal Palace but it seems all a bit beyond the pale, that just when they are in the greatest run in the club’s history and have European football to look forward to, they are apparently set to lose now their best two players to ‘big six’ clubs as Tottenham look to be buying Eze and Liverpool taking Guehi.

It is almost as though this is Palace’s punishment for getting above themselves, have their best players taken away from them because they dared to upset the status quo.

Dare I say it, a bit like Newcastle United and Alexander Isak, that we should know our place and accept that our best players must move on to the chosen few.