Pulisic scores 2, Chelsea beats Palace 4-1 in Premier League

<p>LONDON &mdash; American international Christian Pulisic scored twice for Chelsea in its 4-1 win at Crystal Palace that moved the team into fourth place in the Premier League on Saturday.</p>
<p>Kai Havertz and Kurt Zouma also netted as Chelsea bounced back from a surprising 5-2 loss to West Bromwich Albion last weekend that threw the race for Champions League qualification wide open.</p>
<p>Pulisic was a scorer against West Brom, too, and now has 13 goals overall in the Premier League — tying him with Roy Wegerle for third among American players in England’s top flight. Pulisic has scored in consecutive league games for the first time since June last year.</p>
<p>Chelsea is only two points behind Leicester in third.</p>
<p>Havertz put Chelsea ahead with only his second league goal since a big-money offseason move from the Bundesliga, producing a curling left-footed strike from eight meters in the eighth minute.</p>
<p>The former Bayer Leverkusen forward had an assist within 120 seconds, too, playing in Pulisic who smashed a finish into the roof of the net from close range.</p>
<p>Havertz almost had a goal-of-the-season contender in the 22nd minute but his volley, after a wonderful flick over Patrick Van Aanholt, was saved.</p>
<p>A third goal did arrive in the 30th minute when Zouma headed home a free kick from Mason Mount.</p>
<p>With Porto up next on Tuesday in the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals — Chelsea leads 2-0 from the first leg — Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel was able to withdraw Jorginho after an hour but Palace added some tension to the occasion by pulling a goal back in the 63rd.</p>
<p>Jeffrey Schlupp made an immediate impact from the bench, crossing for Christian Benteke to grab his sixth goal of the campaign with a header which was the Eagles’ first effort of the match.</p>
<p>Normal service was quickly resumed when Gary Cahill made a last-ditch block against his old club to deny Mount, but a fourth goal came in the 78th.</p>
<p>Reece James was afforded too much space on the right by a weary home defense and Pulisic finished at the back post.</p>
<p>There was a two-minute silence before the game to honor Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, who died on Friday at the age of 99.</p>
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