PREMIER League leaders Chelsea fell to a shock defeat as rejuvenated Crystal Palace struck twice in two minutes to win 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

    Chelsea led after five minutes as Cesc Fabregas swept a long pass out to Eden Hazard, who took on his defenders and then waited for support — which came from Fabregas, who raced into the area and finished off the Belgian’s cross.

    But Palace leveled within four minutes when Wilfried Zaha received the ball with his back to goal and turned away from his defenders before smashing home, and they were in front when Zaha’s fine run saw him set up Christian Benteke to scoop a brilliant finish over Thibaut Courtois.

    Fabregas and Hazard linked up again to set up Diego Costa but Wayne Hennessey produced a good save, and then the home side wanted a penalty when a Pedro shot struck Andros Townsend on the arm but saw their appeals rejected by referee Craig Pawson.

    Chelsea players were dominating possession but could have found themselves further adrift when James Tomkins headed narrowly over from a corner.

    Palace had another chance to make it 3-1 after the break when Zaha was put through but Courtois got a foot to his shot — and although Chelsea laid siege to the Palace goal they were unable to find a leveller despite more than seven minutes of added time, with Hennessey outstanding.

    Tottenham took advantage of Chelsea’s defeat to cut the gap to seven points with a clinical 2-0 win at Burnley.

    Chances were at a premium early on, with neither goalkeeper tested in a match in which the home side failed to fluster the Tottenham defense with a direct approach.

    The Londoners had the first good opportunity when Dele Alli fired over after Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton had saved, but not held, a shot from Christian Eriksen.

    But they broke through when Burnley failed to clear a cross and Eric Dier produced a cool finish after 66 minutes, and they were two clear 11 minutes later when Alli played the ball across and Son Heung-Min struck.

    Manchester United was held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford.

    After a slow start, the first chance fell to United’s Jesse Lingard, who chested down a deep cross but blasted his finish over the top.

    Just after the half-hour, Anthony Martial should have opened the scoring when he met a cross from Antonio Valencia only to head wide of the target.

    West Brom was not being put under much pressure and could have taken the lead through United old boy Darren Fletcher, who failed to get a proper connection on his effort after a ball from Craig Dawson had fallen to him.

    Marcus Rashford tried his luck from distance but visiting goalkeeper Ben Foster was equal to it, and the Baggies almost snatched a late winner when David De Gea scrambled a long-range Fletcher effort onto the bar. (SD-Agencies)