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Chelsea's Thiago Silva escapes red card for handball as Graham Potter gets first win

Graham Potter shakes hands with Thiago Silva after Chelsea's 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Chelsea defender Thiago Silva escaped a red card for handball as manager Graham Potter claimed his first win as manager of the Blues on Saturday.

Conor Gallagher's brilliant last-minute winner sealed all three points for Chelsea against the team he impressed with on loan last season.

However, the Brazilian received only a yellow card and he was involved in Chelsea's equaliser, which was scored by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang five minutes later.

"We had to survive moments as they are a good side with dangerous players," Potter said afterwards. "To be a goal down and come away with three points is fantastic so credit to the players."

"I thought it was touch and go," he said. "The fact he was quite far from the goal saved him and it could’ve gone the other way. It's a close one, I can understand Patrick’s [Vieira] frustration. It’s a 50-50 one."

Ben Hayward
Freelance Writer

Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.