Chelsea Held to Goalless Draw by Crystal Palace in First Game of Season

Chelsea and Crystal Palace played out a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge, leaving fans with little excitement but plenty of questions about both teams’ attacking power as the new Premier League season kicks off. Chelsea have been very active in the summer transfer market, having spent more than £240 million on new signings to bolster their squad in hopes of improving on last season’s fourth-place finish in the Premier League.

WHAT HAPPENED?

VAR ruled out a goal for Palace shortly before half time after Eberechi Eze had fired in a free-kick from range. It was ruled to have been struck from too close to the Chelsea wall, thanks to Marc Guehi’s positioning, despite Palace’s protests. Chelsea were much improved after the break but unable to find a breakthrough of their own. Estevao came closest when he sent Pierre Kalulu’s cross wide from close range, while Andrey Santos and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens also went close. Crystal Palace‘s manager Oliver Glasner notably chose Eze and Guehi for the starting lineup against Chelsea.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Chelsea and Palace were both busy in the summer transfer window after underwhelming league campaigns, and both now start this term with a winless run. Chelsea have drawn both of their first two fixtures of the season, while Palace’s two games have returned just one point. As reported, Chelsea will need to adapt quickly, especially with key defender Levi Colwill out for most of the season due to a serious ACL injury.

WHAT NEXT?

Chelsea are playing West Ham next, whereas Palace return to action at home to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League next weekend, after playing Fredrikstad for the Conference League playoffs mid-week.