Guus Hiddink enjoyed his first victory since taking over as Chelsea interim manager as the troubled Premier League champion crushed Crystal Palace 3-0 on Sunday.
After draws against Watford and Manchester United following his arrival as short-term replacement for the sacked Jose Mourinho, Hiddink was at last able to celebrate three points at Selhurst Park.
Oscar opened the scoring in the first half before Willian’s cracker and a Diego Costa strike extended Chelsea’s unbeaten run since Mourinho’s departure to four matches.
In such turmoil for much of a season ruined by the breakdown of Mourinho’s relationship with his squad, the Blues are slowly getting back in the groove under Hiddink and moved six points clear of the relegation zone after their first away league success in eight attempts.
After climbing into contention for a European place, Palace’s first defeat in seven matches left Alan Pardew’s men without a win or a goal in their last three games.
The results:Premier League: Crystal Palace 0 lost to Chelsea 3 (Oscar 29, Willian 60, Costa 66).
Saturday’s results: Watford 1 (Kolarov 55-og) lost to Manchester City 2 (Toure 82, Aguero 84); Arsenal 1 (Koscielny 72) bt Newcastle 0; Leicester 0 drew with Bournemouth 0; Manchester United 2 (Martial 47, Rooney 77) bt Swansea 1 (Sigurdsson 70); Norwich 1 (Tettey 76) bt Southampton 0; Sunderland 3 (van Aanholt 30, Defoe 72, 90+2) bt Aston Villa 1 (Gil 63); West Brom 2 (Sessegnon 60, Evans 90+3) bt Stoke 1 (Walters 81).
La Liga: Rayo Vallecano 2 (Llorente 16, Jozabed 49) drew with Real Sociedad 2 (Elustondo 27, Bruma 62).
Saturday’s results: Atletico Madrid 1 (Partey 80) bt Levante 0; Malaga 2 (Charles 8, Albentosa 26) bt Celta Vigo 0; Espanyol 0 drew with Barcelona 0.
