Far From An Eze Start, Chelsea Held To A 0-0 Draw Against Crystal Palace In Premier League Opener

Estevao (left) is taking on Justin Devenny (Right). Image Credit Via Chelsea FC

Chelsea held to a goalless stalemate against Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.

It was a disappointing opening day for Enzo Maresca’s side as they failed to live up to the hype built up around them over the summer. A snoozefest summarised by the lack of highlights, a match that will and should easily be forgotten by fans.

The Eagles could and should have walked away from this game with three points. Eberiche Eze, a player rumoured to leave the club, smashed home a free kick through the Blue wall past Robert Sanchez in the 14^th minute. However, after briefly checking the monitor, the referee Darren England disallowed the goal. The reason behind this confusing decision was that former Chelsea player Marc Guehi had infringed the rules as he was within a meter of the Chelsea wall before the free kick was taken. The decision saved Sanchez from early-season blushes, who admittedly should have saved Eze’s effort.

After the early drama, the game mellowed down, particularly for the Blues, who failed to get a shot on target between the 3^rd and 90^th minute of the match.

Despite Crystal Palace struggling off the pitch with denial in the Europa League and transfer uncertainties, they were the better of the two sides. Defensively, Oliver Glasner’s team limited Maresca’s attacking talent. Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro were uncharacteristically quiet, failing to make any substantial impact. Even though Palace were also unable to score a legal goal, going forward, they posed more of a threat attacking with a purpose that Chelsea lacked.

Eze was my Player of the Match. He caused the most trouble for either defence and looked dangerous anytime he was on the ball. He arguably won the battle between himself on Reece James down the right-hand flank, which is no easy feat.

Chelsea were forced to make a couple of changes at the back due to the injury absences of Levi Colwill and Tosin Adarabioyo. Trevoh Chalaboh and Josh Acheampong were chosen as the most suitable replacements, and these two were the biggest positives to take away from this game. For the most part, they handled Palace’s strong and fast attack relatively well and kept a clean sheet. On the ball, despite one or two slip-ups from Acheampong, they both looked confident to progress the play.

The issue for Chelsea was that after the ball left their half, they struggled to move the ball quickly enough to stretch out their opposition. Enzo Fernandez has shown his talent to do exactly this in the past, but in this match, he was slow on the ball and wasteful in possession. At times, Moises Caicedo, who had a brilliant game as always, had to play in two separate roles as a destroyer and a progressor of play. Once factoring in the lack of presence in attack and Palmer’s quiet display, it made Maresca’s team easy to counter as they became very predictable.

A point against a formidable side such as Crystal Palace is not the worst way to open the season, but it was definitely a humbling experience for many home fans. Quality is abundant within this side, who have a more than capable coach to achieve their potential. However, the issues, such as a weakness to low blocks, were not going to dissipate overnight.

With their next outing away to a struggling West Ham, the Blues will need to improve their attacking impetus to earn their first three points of the season.