Chelsea’s Premier League campaign began on a frustrating note as they were held to a goalless draw by Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Despite controlling large parts of the second half, the Blues failed to find a breakthrough, with Marc Cucurella, Trevoh Chalobah, Estevão, and Liam Delap all missing key chances.
Palace, however, showed defensive grit throughout and nearly snatched the win when Eberechi Eze’s free-kick found the net, only for VAR to rule out the goal due to an infringement by Marc Guehi.
Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez admitted the result was disappointing but highlighted the positives. “We created chances and kept a clean sheet. It wasn’t the result we wanted, but we move on,” he told Sky Sports.
He pointed to a short pre-season and lingering fatigue from the Club World Cup as factors behind Chelsea’s lack of sharpness, while crediting Palace’s midfield pressure for making it difficult to link up play through Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez.
For Enzo Maresca’s side, it meant two valuable points dropped so early in the season, while Oliver Glasner’s Palace left Stamford Bridge satisfied with a disciplined performance and a share of the spoils.
