Crystal Palace secured their first point of the Premier League season by rallying to earn a 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Eberechi Eze’s brilliant 20-yard strike canceled out Nicolas Jackson’s first-half goal, ensuring an entertaining London derby ended in a stalemate.
Jackson, continuing his fine form, scored his second goal in as many matches by finishing off a well-executed Chelsea attack midway through the first half. Despite their early dominance, the Blues were unable to extend their lead.
They paid the price eight minutes into the second half when Eze curled a stunning shot from distance, leveling the match and giving Oliver Glasner’s Eagles their first point of the 2024/25 season.
Under the management of Enzo Maresca, Chelsea missed an opportunity to break into the top half of the table, remaining in 11th place with four points, while Palace moved up to 16th.
Chelsea dominated the early proceedings, with Cole Palmer narrowly missing the far post with a curling effort and Noni Madueke – who netted a hat-trick against Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend – also coming close.
Palace’s goalkeeper, Dean Henderson, was called into action, producing a stunning reflex save to tip Madueke’s volley onto the crossbar after the winger connected with an Enzo Fernandez cross.
However, Henderson was unable to prevent Chelsea from taking the lead in the 25th minute. A swift counterattack saw Madueke outpace Will Hughes and pass the ball to Palmer, who delivered a low cross for Jackson to slot into an empty net.
Henderson once again came to Palace’s rescue early in the second half, pushing away Palmer’s dipping free-kick and then denying a header from Levi Colwill.
His heroics proved pivotal as Palace equalized in the 53rd minute, with Eze unleashing a magnificent 20-yard shot that flew past Robert Sanchez.
Despite Chelsea maintaining the majority of possession in the second half, Palace nearly snatched a winner when Daichi Kamada forced Sanchez into a save 13 minutes from time.
Jackson had a chance to win it for Chelsea late on, but Henderson denied him in a one-on-one situation, leaving the two teams to share the points.
Maresca, who had rotated his squad for the midweek UEFA Europa Conference League playoff against Servette, made only one change from Chelsea’s 6-2 victory over Wolves, giving a full debut to former Wolves winger Pedro Neto.
Chelsea looked composed and confident in the first half, with their attacking players combining and interchanging effectively.
With a deep squad at his disposal, Maresca left Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk, and Christopher Nkunku on the bench, while new signing Jadon Sancho observed from the stands.
Chelsea’s early lead, courtesy of Palmer’s fourth assist of the season, reflected their superiority. Remarkably, only four players in Premier League history have provided more assists in the first three matches of a campaign.
However, the hosts were left to regret not converting their dominance into a larger lead, especially after Eze’s individual brilliance brought Palace back into the game.
Despite controlling possession for much of the remainder of the match, Chelsea lacked the intensity they displayed in the first half and failed to find a winning goal.
For Palace, a tough start to the season was compounded by the prospect of facing Chelsea, a team that had beaten them in 13 consecutive Premier League encounters before Sunday.
The Eagles had only begun a top-flight season with three straight losses once before, under Frank de Boer in 2017/18. As the first half progressed, it seemed likely that history would repeat itself, with Palace spending most of the time on the defensive.
But Eze had other ideas. The England international picked the perfect moment to score his fifth Premier League goal from outside the box in 2024, a feat only matched by Manchester City’s Phil Foden.
That equalizer rejuvenated Palace, who then posed a consistent threat for the rest of the match.
At the back, former Chelsea defender Marc Guehi, who remained with Palace despite transfer speculation, was instrumental in helping his side hold firm and keep the hosts at bay.
