Chelsea were stifled by a stubborn Crystal Palace outfit at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon, as the two teams played out a goalless draw.
Both teams entered the opening weekend with springs in their steps off the back of successful summers. While Palace added a Community Shield to complement their FA Cup triumph in May, Enzo Maresca’s Blues were crowned world champions in the United States.
There’s been plenty of buzz surrounding Maresca’s outfit heading into the new season, with an array of fresh faces making a quick early impression. Five new signings were handed run-outs, including three Premier League debutants, but Chelsea were blunted by a side who have developed a knack for frustrating the division’s best and are now ten games unbeaten in all competitions.
Here are three takeaways from Sunday’s stalemate at the Bridge.
Blues Blunted
Oliver Glasner’s Eagles are a tough nut to crack. They proved that during their run to FA Cup glory before troubling Liverpool with their wing-back play and verticality in possession in last week’s Community Shield.
They produced some slick passing sequences in the first half here, one of which led to a Jean-Philippe Mateta shot on goal. Their threat did dwindle as the game progressed, although Mateta was a nuisance every time he was able to isolate one of the Chelsea centre backs, including young Josh Acheampong.
The visitors were the superior side in the opening 45 minutes, and were harshly denied an opening goal. Without the ball, they combined astute screening and aggressive centre back play to ensure Chelsea were unable to progress centrally, and their wing-backs were rarely left one-on-one against the Blues’ spritely wide players, with Jamie Gittens and Pedro Neto often having at least two to beat.
Maresca’s side were stuck in the mud for large portions of Sunday’s bout as a result of Palace’s impressive cohesiveness, producing a performance akin to some of their flattest last term. They were pretty insipid, with the manager perhaps not doing enough to shift the momentum despite turning to his bench multiple times.
Off Cole-our
Expectations are grand for Cole Palmer in 2025–26, after the Englishman lit up the latter stages of the Club World Cup in July.
Palmer was the sole protagonist of Mauricio Pochettino’s campaign at the helm, recording a whopping 33 Premier League goal contributions, and 2024–25 was far from a disappointment, even if some accused Enzo Maresca of inhibiting the care-free Englishman.
Chelsea supporters will hope Palmer’s display is not a sign of things to come this term. Palace limited his influence via shrewd midfield screening as opposed to man-marking, but when he was able to get his foot on the ball, Palmer was uncharacteristically tame.
The cold-blooded killer that manifests when he’s purring was nowhere to be seen here, with the Englishman instead struggling to correctly weigh his passes and galvanise a new-look outfit that, for the majority of the contest, offered little by way of attacking inspiration.
Remarkably, he hasn’t scored a Premier League goal from open play since January 14. A free-kick which thumped Chris Richards in the face was his only sight on Sunday.
What Are Spurs Waiting For?
There was an expectation on Saturday that Crystal Palace’s FA Cup hero wouldn’t feature at Stamford Bridge in the Eagles’ Premier League opener, with Tottenham Hotspur closing in on their new No. 10.
Eze has made it clear that he wants to join the north London club, but the absence of an agreement meant Oliver Glasner felt obliged to include the England international in his matchday squad. The 27-year-old didn’t quite last the entirety of Sunday’s bout, as he was withdrawn with seven minutes to go.
A rousing reception from the away end ensued, with the majority suspecting that this is the final time they’ll see him in Palace colours. His performance was a bit of an odd one, with questionable decisions in possession undermining sequences of vintage Eze magic. There was a sublime nutmeg on Reece James in the first half, and a clever dummy in the second to set Tyrick Mitchell free down the left, for example.
Cruelly, he was denied an early opener following VAR intervention, as his thumping free-kick was ruled out for a pedantic Marc Guéhi infringement. Given how well Palace defended in west London, that may well have proven to be a fitting winner.
Spurs started their 2024–25 campaign with a comfortable 3–0 victory over Burnley, having performed impressively in the UEFA Super Cup, but their need for a playmaker of Eze’s ilk after James Maddison succumbed to a ruptured ACL, remains distinct. What are they waiting for?
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Three Takeaways as Chelsea Frustrated by Crystal Palace in Premier League Opener.
