Conor Gallagher sends message to Crystal Palace fans after scoring brace

Conor Gallagher sent a message to Crystal Palace fans after scoring a brace for Chelsea in the 3-1 comeback win at Selhurst Park.

Chelsea found themselves 1-0 down at half-time after Jefferson Lerma opened his account for Palace with a stunning long-range strike.

But, following a lengthy delay for the second half caused by the referee's communication equipment failing, Gallagher levelled matters 90 seconds after the restart.

He then put Chelsea in the lead against his former club, before Enzo Fernandez sealed the win in stoppage time.

Gallagher was named Man of the Match and whisked in for a chat with Sky Sports on Monday Night Football, where David Jones and Jamie Carragher were joined by Petr Cech.

The England international was absolutely stunned when told that he had covered 13km in the game and also felt the need to apologise to Palace supporters in a classy interview.

He spent a season on loan in the 2021/22 campaign, winning Palace's Player of the Season award after excelling in a box-to-box role under Patrick Vieira.

The loan helped him become a Chelsea regular and his brace on Monday followed up a last minute winner in the fixture last season.

"I do love them," Gallagher said when asked about Palace fans being sick of the sight of him.

"That's the thing. It's sad but you can't beat that feeling so I'm sorry Palace fans."

Chelsea's win followed up their FA Cup triumph over Aston Villa in midweek and made it 13 consecutive league wins in a row against Palace.

It's the first time in the club's 118-year history that they have achieved the feat against the same opposition.

The win moved Chelsea back into the top ten ahead of Wolves on 32 points.

Next up for the Blues is a trip to treble winners Manchester City in the late kick-off next Saturday.

"We've got some massive games coming up and we're trying our best to keep improving.

"Consistency is the main thing for us. I think everyone's seen games where we've been brilliant and games where we've been terrible.

"It's just getting that consistency and today was really important for that."