Frightening pace was too much for Chelsea, says Pardew

By Tom Hayward LONDON (Reuters) - Crystal Palace's "frightening" pace was too much for London rivals Chelsea, said manager Alan Pardew after the Premier League champions slumped to a shock 2-1 home defeat on Saturday. The visitors had to soak up wave after wave of pressure but ruthlessly exposed Chelsea on the counter-attack as they inflicted Jose Mourinho's second home defeat in his 100th league game at Stamford Bridge. It was Palace's third victory in four games this season and they occupy second place in the table, three points behind Manchester City. "We can frighten teams with our pace and we did that from start to finish," Pardew told the BBC after his side triumphed with second-half goals from Bakary Sako and Joel Ward. "Our defenders had to defend really well and they did. We've added new players this season but haven't lost our spirit." Pardew, who took over midway through last season, has transformed Palace into a side capable of mixing it with the best in the division. Their well-organised and steely rearguard, and creative midfield, perfectly compliments a forward line bursting with speed and exuberance. "It was a really good performance today, one of the best I've seen from one of my teams in terms of composure," said Pardew. "We have got technically better players than last season. I'm not saying we're contenders for Europe but we're a good side." Only Arsenal have beaten Palace this season and crucial to their impressive victory at Stamford Bridge was a desire to attack a wounded Chelsea team who have taken only four points this term. "That was full throttle for 90 minutes," said Palace defender Damien Delaney. "It wasn't a sit-in, 11-men behind the ball game. We had a good few chances and could have made it more comfortable. "We've come here the last two years, sat in and got beaten. But we said if we're going to get beaten let's have a go. Once we got them on the back foot we thought we could keep them low after their start to the season." (Editing by Tony Jimenez)