Source: Daily_Mail
Crystal Palace 0 Chelsea 1: Michael Essien toasts his comeback with a winner for the Blues
Michael Essien celebrated his return from a six-month knee injurylay-off by smacking the Chelsea winner in yesterday's friendly atCrystal Palace. [LNB]The Ghana midfielder, who missed the World Cup because of theinjury, hit the bar in the first half and slotted home the only goal ofthe game after 61 minutes after exchanging passes with JoshuaMcEachran. [LNB]Most of the Double-winners' big names were missing, includingEngland's World Cup trio of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole.But Essien was the man of the match as he wore the Chelsea jersey forfirst time since injuring knee ligaments during January's Africa Cup ofNations. [LNB] Back in business: Michael Essien (right) celebrates his comeback goal with John Mikel Obi[LNB]The midfielder, 27, was substituted merely as a precaution after his goal. [LNB]Manager Carlo Ancelotti said: 'It was important Essien returned. He played very well and is a fantastic player. We missed him last season and hope he can do the best for us this season.' [LNB]Nigeria's John Obi Mikel, who, like Essien, missed the World Cup through injury, played for the first time since his knee surgery in May. [LNB]Central defender Alex also completed his comeback after summer knee surgery.[LNB] Ancelotti said: 'We had a good performance and played good football. 'We have a lot of young players ready to play in our team. Three, four or five young players can be with us in the squad for next season.' [LNB]But, based on yesterday's performance, forwards Daniel Sturridge and Franco Di Santo are far short of the standard for Premier League regulars. [LNB]Neither impressed against a makeshift Crystal Palace side, who avoided dropping into League One only on the final day of last season. [LNB]Sturridge in particular looked nervous about shooting. Yossi Benayoun, signed for £5.5million from Liverpool to replace the released Joe Cole, missed the game with a slight groin niggle but will make his Chelsea bow in Friday's friendly at Ajax. [LNB]The 21,345 crowd was a money-spinner for Palace, who were saved from liquidation by the CPFC 2010 consortium in June. Chelsea blow as Zlatan Ibrahimovic insists he's staying at BarcelonaClub-by-club Premier League guide to every transfer deal in summer 2010Roy Hodgson insists Fernando Torres is not for sale after meeting with Liverpool strikerALL THE CHELSEA FC
