Result: Chelsea 1-1 Huddersfield Town
Date: 09 May 2018
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Chelsea's top-four hopes in the Premier League took another dent after they drew 1-1 with Huddersfield Town at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening.
Following a vital win over Liverpool, the west London side gave a new look to their attacking stall with Olivier Giroud rested after a minor injury.
In their debut campaign, Huddersfield needed to reproduce the performance that saw them walk away with a goalless draw at Manchester City to be certain of another season in the elite tier.
Chelsea got the first chance when a brilliant long ball from Cesc Fabregas picked out Marcos Alonso, who controlled on the chest before unleashing a thunderous shot that Jan Lossl managed to avert.
The bottom-tier side were given their earliest scare yet following 12 minutes when a corner from Fabregas was nodded towards Antonio Rudiger at the back post, who couldn't steer home from close range.
What followed was a spell of indecisiveness in front of goal, particularly from the hosts as the game went into a dry spell on all fronts.
That was until Alvaro Morata tested Lossl with a wonderful volley following a cross from the wing by Fabregas, but the Danish shot-stopper made the save on 30 minutes.
After the break, the visitors snatched a surprise lead as a long ball challenged by Willy Caballero and Laurent Depoitre only paved the way for the latter to blast home on the rebound following a quick reaction on 50 minutes.
Wizard Eden Hazard came on for a rather ineffective Pedro in the 59th minute to deploy a 4-2-4 formation to add numbers in attack.
This approach paid off following the 61st minute when Alonso, guilty of an earlier miss, stroked home a low cross from Cesar Azpilicueta.
A goal-mouth scramble in the final minutes saw the loose ball fall to Andreas Christensen, whose header was touched onto the post by Lossl.
The Terriers held on for dear life and jumped for joy at the final whistle, which meant they will yet again be playing Premier League football next season, while the Blues go into the final day of the season with a top-four finish out of their hands.
