Goals from Tammy Abraham and Christian Pulisic moved Frank Lampard’s men above champions Manchester City, who play at Liverpool on Sunday, into second place.
In-form Christian Pulisic showed good intent to force his way into the visitors’ penalty area in the 12th minute but Vicente Guaita in the Palace goal was quick off his line to thwart the American’s effort.
Chelsea’s captain for the day, Willian, then stepped up and curled a free kick just wide three minutes later.
The hosts nearly took the lead on the cusp of halftime but Chelsea old boy Gary Cahill was on hand to block Willian’s effort following a goalmouth scramble.
Six minutes after the restart, Willian produced a deft flick from Mateo Kovacic’s pass to put Tammy Abraham through on goal, and the England international made no mistake by coolly slotting in his 10th league goal of the season.
Guaita prevented Palace from going further behind in the 59th minute when he outstandingly tipped Pulisic’s long range effort over.
Palace wasted a great effort to pull even with 19 minutes to go but an unmarked James Tomkins headed wide from a corner.
The Blues wrapped up the points in the 78th minute with Pulisic taking advantage of Michy Batshuayi’s deflected strike to head in Chelsea’s second.
Next up for Chelsea is a game against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium after the international break while Crystal Palace are at home to Liverpool.
