Just a week ago Super Eagles forward Victor Moses was all over the place.  He was some form of a workaholic in the tie against Chipolopolo of Zambia at the Nest of Champions in Uyo. He was not only a problem for the Zambian defence he came close to scoring a couple of times. It was Alex Iwobi that eventually broke the deadlock scoring the only goal that gave the Eagles the much needed ticket.

Moses back to base in England and ready for action had looked forward to another superlative performance this time against Premier league side Crystal Palace.

He did start the game but a 36th minute injury put paid to whatever game plan he had against Crystal Palace. An unexpected hamstring injury has taken the centre stage and is likely to sideline him for up to three weeks.  For Chelsea it was not just about injury to Moses the team equally lost the match.

The implication is that the Nigerian international will miss champions tie against Roma on Wednesday, and premier league ties against Watford, Everton and AFC Bournemouth but may hope to return for away champions league tie against Roma at the end of the month.

Teammate Gary Cahill however believes that the Blues should have done better despite early exit of the Nigerian international.

The Premier League champions fell behind to Cesar Azpilicueta’s 11th-minute own goal before equalising seven minutes later via Tiemoue Bakayoko’s header.

However, the Eagles struck back through Wilfried Zaha on the stroke of half time and went on to claim all three points, leaving the Blues captain feeling very bemused with the afternoon’s events.

“The performance level today was not up to the standard it should be. We played poorly today, for whatever reason,” Cahill told BBC Sport.

“We’ve had many international players who have been away but that’s part and parcel of modern football. We need to be ready, we needed to be livelier, and we were missing out on second balls. That’s unlike us.

“We’re not having the best of luck in terms of injuries – you saw Victor Moses today – and we’ve not got the biggest squad. But it needed to be a better performance today.

“We need to win games like this, and in terms of the title after Christmas we need to be there or thereabouts. We are disappointed by the result and disappointed in the quality of our performance.”

Up next for Chelsea is a Champions League home encounter with Roma on Wednesday night.

Super Eagles  forward Victor Moses, was in action for the entire duration of the match as Chelsea enjoyed a goal feast against Stoke away on Saturday.

Although the Nigerian international did not score he was very effective as teammate Alvaro Morata grabbed three of the goals in the 2nd, 77th and 82nd minutes of the match. Pedro was also on target in the 30th minute of the encounter. It was Morata’s first Chelsea hat-trick in a tie in which Stoke were the better side for much of the encounter, but ruthlessly punished for defensive lapses.

Antonio Conte left the likes of Gary Cahill and Eden Hazard on the bench, while Mark Hughes was forced into naming a makeshift defensive line due to Kurt Zouma, Ryan Shawcross, Kevin Wimmer and Geoff Cameron all being sidelined by a mixture of injury and ineligibility.

The stand-in backline was exposed as early as the second minute when Cesar Azpilicueta’s long ball forward released Morata clean through on goal, and the Spaniard tucked his finish into the bottom corner for his fourth Premier League goal of the season.

Peter Crouch could have seen red for a late challenge on Fabregas in the final minute of normal time, but referee Mike Dean opted for leniency on what was already a frustrating afternoon for the Potters.

The win extends Stoke’s wait for a victory to five matches across all competitions, whereas Chelsea are now unbeaten in seven games and have won their opening three away fixtures of a league season for the first time since 2009.

Chelsea face a difficult week ahead, though, with Atletico Madrid to come in the Champions League before taking on free-scoring Manchester City next weekend.