Chelsea‘s latest crop of summer signings failed to find a way past an organised Crystal Palace side as the London clubs played out a season-opening goalless draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Eberechi Eze thought he had scored for Palace in the first half with a well-hit free kick in the first half but the video assistant referee (VAR) and referee Darren England ruled that Marc Guéhi was too close to the Chelsea wall and, after a brief moment of confusion inside the ground, the goal was ruled out.
Neither side came close to scoring from there as two well-drilled defences cancelled each other out.
Eberechi Eze started for Palace despite speculation he is about to leave and, if there were doubts about how supporters felt about the player whose goal won them the FA Cup in May, they were dispelled when he was substituted to a standing ovation late on.
As expected, Nicolas Jackson was not in Enzo Maresca’s squad after being made surplus to requirements, with Newcastle considering a bid, while João Pedro was preferred at number nine to fellow new signing Liam Delap.
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Chelsea were playing 35 days after their win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final in the United States and showed signs of mental fatigue in a first-half display low on creativity.
Marc Cucurella had the first of their only two chances, his near-post header looping towards the far corner where it was nodded off the line by the leaping Ismaïla Sarr.
Eze looked to have obliged the headline writers after 15 minutes with an unstoppable free-kick that flew past Robert Sánchez and in, before a VAR check showed Guéhi had encroached on the Chelsea wall.
Moments later Jean-Philippe Mateta broke into the box but shot too close to Sánchez, who bounced the effort to safety.
There was little worthy of home fans’ enthusiasm in attack in the first half, but they showed raucous appreciation for a wonderfully-timed, full-blooded tackle on Daniel Muñoz by 19-year-old Josh Acheampong, making a third Premier League start in central defence, with Levi Colwill a long-term absentee and Wesley Fofana not risked.
With Maresca having been told to seek internal solutions to his lack of defensive options, the academy graduate staked a convincing claim for regular game time with a display of maturity and fulsome grit that was warmly received by an otherwise subdued crowd.
The best Chelsea chance of the half fell to Trevoh Chalobah, who fired high from eight yards after good work from debutant Jamie Gittens.
Estêvão was sent on in the 53rd minute for a competitive debut and, with his first action, successfully took Guéhi on in a foot race down the right before crossing brilliantly for Pedro Neto, who failed to make good contact.
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The Brazil international, still only 18, betrayed his inexperience minutes later when striking wildly over the bar when off balance before being booked for lunging at Muñoz.
Eze was again almost the story when he drilled at goal and brought a two-handed save from Sanchez, then at the other end substitute Delap shot straight at Dean Henderson.
Information from PA contributed to this report
