Hello and welcome along to live coverage of Thomas Tuchel’s post-match press conference after Chelsea got their Premier League campaign underway with a 3-0 thumping of Crystal Palace.
The Blues were back in front of a near capacity crowd for the first time since last March and the supporters certainly made their voices heard throughout the 90 minutes as goals from Marcos Alonso, Christian Pulisic and a sensational debut strike from Trevoh Chalobah got the Blues’ season off to the perfect start.
Tuchel handed Chalobah a Premier League debut in his back three after an excellent pre-season but there was disappointment for N’Golo Kante, who missed out through injury.
The Blues got their season up and running in the 27th minute thanks to a fine free kick from Marcos Alonso, who whipped a strike near post from the right hand side of the box and Vicente Guaita never moved.
The Blues were very much in control for the opening 45 minutes and they doubled their advantage four minutes before half time when Christian Pulisic scored from close range, Guaita only parrying Mason Mount’s cross straight to the American, who duly finished.
Palace finally offered something early in the second half as Wilf Zaha raced clear, only to be denied by a superb sliding challenge from Antonio Rudiger in the box.
It was 3-0 15 minutes into the second half and what a moment it was for Trevoh Chalobah on his Premier League debut, firing home a rocket of a strike from the edge of the box past a helpless Guaita.
Palace barely threatened thereafter as Chelsea closed out the game comfortably to pick up their first three points of the season on a baking hot afternoon in west London.
Join us for live updates from Tuchels’ post-match press conference via the live blog below. As always, there will be a full transcript with every word the manager had to say online later.