Chelsea have claimed a tough 3-2 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. The Eagles could have snatched a draw at the very end of the game; however, two great saves from Kepa and Kurt Zouma let Frank Lampard's crew get away with three points. The manager has opened up on those defensive plays at the post-match press conference.
"Kepa makes a great save, Kurt Zouma makes a great tackle, but in those last moments it was nerve-wracking," the boss said, as quoted by the Blues' official website.
"We should have had the game under much more control going into the last five minutes. At 2-0 we should have controlled the game better. At 3-2 we had a lot of chances to finish it off. We made the wrong decisions with the final pass or shot. That invites pressure.
"It was fantastic from Kurt. Against Watford, he played a really good game as well: imposing, great defending, good on the ball. That's everything I want. His is definitely a points-saving tackle, it saves us two points. I'm really pleased with him.
"For Kepa, it can be big. When you're at the end of the pitch confidence is huge when you're in an individual position. He should be boosted; his teammates should be boosted because he saved us two points.
"That's what Kepa is there for. I'm really pleased for him. We need that to be a top team, people to make those sorts of saves to pull us through. He did it today."
Both Kepa and Zouma made big-time plays at the end of the game indeed. First, the goalkeeper somehow tipped Scott Dann's header on to the post, and then the French centre-back made an absolutely superhuman sliding tackle to deny Christian Benteke at the very last seconds of the clash.
