Chelsea edge Palace in pre-season friendly

Chelsea edged out London rivals Crystal Palace in a heated pre-season friendly, to build momentum ahead of the new season.After missing the World Cup in South Africa, it was Ghanaian Michael Essien who struck the telling blow. There were fears that he may have come off injured in the first-half with a recurrence of that injury, but he carried on.And that was rewarded in the second period as he got the goal that kicked Chelsea's pre-season up a gear. It was a youthful Chelsea side on show, with youngsters Daniel Sturridge and Franco Di Santo getting the nod to start the game upfront. However, there was some experience out there, as goalkeeper Petr Cech captained the Blues.The goal came on the hour mark; the Blues surged forward on the counter, and Essien fired home from just outside the box to leave Julian Speroni beaten in the Palace goal.About LiveFootballTickets.comLiveFootballTickets.com is a football ticket marketplace. There are currently tickets available on this website for over 5000 football matches in the UK and throughout the World such as Community Shield tickets, Carling Cup Final Tickets and FA Cup tickets. In addition, you can book tickets for England Euro 2012 qualifiers. Buy England football tickets here.