Alvaro Morata made it four goals in his last four Premier League matches with a brace as he helped Chelsea to a 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace.
The Spaniard's goals came either side of a a well-taken Townsend strike which temporarily gave Palace belief, before Pedro made the points safe.
Morata had struggled for form at the beginning of the campaign and eventually became used a back-up option to Olivier Giroud under Maurizio Sarri. However, he appears to have rediscovered his goal scoring touch in recent weeks.
Eden Hazard was named on the substitute's bench, having missed Chelsea's last three matches through injury and he was clearly missed as Palace impressed in the opening exchanges.