Chelsea’s Premier League campaign has begun with something of a whimper.
The FIFA Club World Cup champions looked under-prepared, a legacy surely of their summer exertions and late return to pre-season preparations, as Crystal Palace secured a point at Stamford Bridge. Enzo Maresca, a frustrated figure on the touchline, must have feared it might be like this.
With co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali watching on, Chelsea struggled for long periods to cope with Palace’s aggressive approach. They might have trailed to Eberechi Eze’s thunderous free kick early on, but the VAR determined Marc Guehi, grappling with Moises Caicedo in the penalty box, had moved within a metre of the Chelsea defensive wall when the shot was taken. The goal was therefore ruled out.
Chelsea’s best first-half opportunity fell to Trevoh Chalobah, who skied over the bar from close range. The introduction of Estevao did inject some energy into their performance, but the forward players struggled to click and the better chances continued to fall to the visitors until stoppage time right at the end.
Then substitute Andrey Santos skied wastefully over the bar from inside the penalty box and with that effort went Chelsea’s chance of a winning start.
