Chelsea's Romelu Lukaku produced miserable stats in Premier League win at Crystal Palace

Romelu Lukaku was barely involved in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday.

The Blues’ record signing has flattered to deceive since returning to Stamford Bridge with his controversial Sky Italia interview casting a shadow over his performances in the 2021/22 campaign.

Ten goals in 27 appearances might not smack of a striker struggling to find his best form, but it’s the nature of Lukaku’s displays that explain why so many Chelsea fans are already growing frustrated.

Nevertheless, Thomas Tuchel has continued to persist with the former Manchester United striker at the apex of his attack and duly picked him in Chelsea’s starting XI for the trip to Selhurst Park.

It proved to be a really difficult match for the west London club with Palace keeping them at bay until the very last minute of regulation time when Hakim Ziyech finally broke the deadlock.

And although Lukaku was on the pitch when Chelsea finally bagged their winner, ultimately playing all 90 minutes in south London, he didn’t exactly do much to combat all the criticism that’s been coming his way.

We say that because Lukaku gave one of the most anonymous performances we’ve ever seen from him in the Premier League, producing miserable statistics that spread like wildfire on social media.

Astonishingly, Opta confirmed that Lukaku touched the ball just twice during the first-half with one of those errand completed passes proving the game’s kick-off.

And while the 28-year-old did manage to play a slightly more active role after the break, even forcing a Ziyech goal that was denied by the offside flag, his full-time statistics weren’t exactly much to shout about.

In fact, according to SofaScore, Lukaku touched the ball just seven times across an hour and a