Chelsea overcome dogged Sheffield United

Chelsea returned to winning ways with a hard-fought victory over a dogged Sheffield United at Stamford Bridge.

It was 2-0 seven minutes later, Nicolas Jackson converting Palmer's pass after Blades goalkeeper Wes Foderingham palmed the ball into the former Manchester City youngster's path.

Chelsea enjoyed almost 80% possession across the 90 minutes, but Conor Gallagher's long-range effort was their only shot on target in a forgettable first half for Mauricio Pochettino's team.

Cameron Archer curled wide for the visitors in the first half and full Chelsea debutant Djordje Petrovic pulled off a fine save from Gustavo Hamer's low free-kick, but that was the closest the visitors came to a breakthrough.

Second-half substitute Armando Broja should have increased Chelsea's lead late in the second half but somehow skewed Palmer's low delivery off target from point-blank range.

The Blues move up to tenth place on 22 points, while Sheffield United remain five points from safety at the foot of the table.

Blues make dominance count

Chelsea have endured a bitterly disappointing 2023 but Pochettino will hope Saturday's hard-fought victory is the start of a more encouraging end to the year, with a Carabao Cup quarter-final with Newcastle and league games against Wolves, Crystal Palace and Luton to come.

Despite enjoying swathes of possession they struggled to penetrate a dogged Sheffield United rearguard in the first half, Gallagher shooting tamely into Foderingham's arms before Jackson curled narrowly wide from the edge of the box.

Their first-half efforts were perhaps best summed up by Mykhailo Mudryk, who blazed wildly off target midway through the first period after nutmegging Max Lowe and cutting in from the left.

There was an outpouring of relief around Stamford Bridge when Palmer converted Sterling's cross for his eighth goal of the season. Palmer's opener and Jackson's close-range effort were both checked for offside by the video assistant referee (VAR) but no infringement was spotted.

Broja will be wondering how he failed to score his second Premier League goal of the season late in the game but, thankfully for Pochettino's side, the Albanian's miss did not prove costly.

Chelsea have had a dreadful time with injuries of late but there was positive news before kick-off as Christopher Nkunku was named in the matchday squad for the first time since signing from RB Leipzig in June.

The France forward has not featured for the Blues since suffering a knee injury in a pre-season friendly with Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund in August.

More to follow.