Crystal Palace could have tried to ‘nick a win or park the bus’ but won their way

Alan Pardew hailed his team - 'better than last year, as we have better technical players' - for staying committed to their attacking style and earning three points for their efforts on Saturday.

Crystal Palace's Bakary Sako celebrates scoring the team's first goal against Chelsea on Saturday in their win at Stamford Bridge. Paul Hackett / Reuters / August 29, 2015

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew lauded his team's assertiveness and fearlessness against Chelsea on Saturday at Stamford Bridge, with the visitors scoring their first victory at the champions' home ground since 1982.

Chelsea were left reeling as fellow London club Palace secured the 2-1 victory and inflicted only the second defeat in 100 Premier League home matches suffered by Jose Mourinho.

Bakary Sako opened the scoring in the second half before substitute Radamel Falcao looked to have earned Chelsea at least a point when he headed home.

Underscoring Palace’s confidence and daring on Saturday, it was within just two minutes that defender Joel Ward struck back to win the match for the team.

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew said: “We kept creating chances and that’s very difficult to do here.

Read more: Greg Lea on a Chelsea side suddenly standing staring at a mountain of a climb back into title race

“It was a stadium expecting Chelsea to win. My team is better than last year, as we have better technical players.

“Sako has been a real boost for us and we wouldn’t have won the last two games without him. He threatens the goal from a wide moment.

“If Roy Hodgson gets a tape of this game he will be impressed what Jason Puncheon did against a world-class midfield.

“It’s difficult to overcome a Chelsea team and their manager here. You could nick a win or park the bus here to try to do that. But we didn’t do that.”

Mourinho, meanwhile, has no plans to spend big in the final few days of the transfer window in a bid to end Chelsea's early season malaise.

Chelsea’s loss left them a significant eight points behind leaders Manchester City just four games into the current campaign.

Those four league matches have now yielded two defeats, including a 3-0 reverse at City, compared to just three losses in the whole of last season’s league programme.

Asked whether he would be spending heavily on Everton’s John Stones and Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, two targets linked to Chelsea, Mourinho said: “I hope not. I don’t like that.

“I gave my club the report of the season projection on April 24,” he said. “I don’t think it’s now, on the 29th or 30th August, to say ‘I want this and that or I want to try this and that.’ We have to gel.

“The reality is that we have had a bad start,” Mourinho added. “Four points is a very bad start.

“To perform collectively you need individual performances. The amount of chances means you are playing, means you are producing something. It’s not enough.”

Mourinho also said the club have plenty of time to mount a title challenge.

“We have eight points less than the leader and seven, six and five from the others. In another league I would say: ‘Game over.’

“In the Premier League I don’t say ‘game over’ because last season we have seven points to the second team and in one month we lost the seven points.

“On January 1 we were on the same points as the second. This is the Premier League and I think it’s getting more difficult.”

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