Chelsea were held by Crystal Palace as Ebere Eze’s wondrous second half strike was enough for the Eagles to earn a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Enzo Maresca’s team ran hot in the first half with Nicolas Jackson prodding them ahead after a fine counter-attack involving Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke. It capped a good first-half showing from the Blues who created 1.79 worth of expected goals.
Chelsea had big chances, as the metrics suggested, before the opener.
Madueke was a whisker away from giving them the lead after 20 minutes when Palace defender Marc Guehi allowed a high ball to drop over his shoulder, allowing Madueke to steal in but he swept wide.
Madueke went close again minutes later when he evaded Tyrick Mitchell and got his foot to Enzo Fernandez’s fine raking ball only to be denied by a superb reaction save from Dean Henderson.
Chelsea’s dominance did not last.
Palace kicked into gear after the break, aided by the introduction of Cheick Doucouré, and Eze’s sumptuous curling effort from 20 yards drew them level on 53 minutes.
Eberechi Eze scores Crystal Palace’s leveller (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Doucoure’s thunderous drive hit Fofana and the ball broke to the edge of the box for Eze, who with a nonchalant right foot scooped it wide of Robert Sanchez’s dive and into the corner for 1-1.
The game switched and Palace looked the likelier to score a second. Sanchez fumbled Daichi Kamada’s driven effort and Eze had another fine effort blocked away.
Chelsea rallied in the eight minutes of stoppage time as Jackson drilled into the side netting and was then denied one-on-one by another fine Henderson stop, who celebrated like he had scored the winner, when he had in fact earned Palace’s first point of the season.
Analysis: Doucoure – remember him?
Palace’s game-changer: Cheick Doucoure
Sky Sports’ Lewis Jones:
Crystal Palace lacked urgency, drive, tenacity and any forward momentum at Stamford Bridge for 50 minutes. Chelsea were 1-0 up and many observers would have been wondering how many more they’d get against what looked a very limited Palace outfit.
But then an old friend of the Palace fans sprung from the bench to replace Will Hughes.
Cheick Doucoure was Crystal Palace’s Player of the Year in 2022/23 and one the most outstanding central midfield players in the Premier League. Liverpool were even linked with a move.
However, a serious Achilles injury sustained in the 2-1 Premier League defeat vs Luton last November cost Palace one of their key men for the rest of the season. But he is back now – that is for sure judged on his 40-minute cameo where he completely changed the way Palace hustled and harried Chelsea in midfield.
He set the tone for the improvement as they eventually were good value for a point based on their second half showing.
Story of the match in stats
Opta stats: A rare draw
- Crystal Palace have now failed to win any of their last 14 Premier League matches against Chelsea (D1 L13), their longest ongoing winless streak against a current Premier League outfit. Today’s draw saw them pick up their first point against the Blues in the competition since October 2017, however.
- This is only the third draw in this fixture in the Premier League in what was the 31st meeting between Chelsea and Crystal Palace (Chelsea W24, Crystal Palace W4), and the first draw since March 1995 – a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge.
- Eze has scored five Premier League goals from outside the box in 2024, the joint-most of any player along with Manchester City’s Phil Foden. All of Eze’s last three goals in the competition have been from outside the box.
- Chelsea have scored 47 goals at Stamford Bridge in 17 matches in 2024, the most home goals of any club across Europe’s big-five leagues (all competitions).
