Enzo Maresca believes Chelsea deserved to beat Crystal Palace and is confident his side will continue to improve over the coming weeks.
The Blues enjoyed 71 per cent of the possession during our Premier League opener and bar Crystal Palace's disallowed goal in the opening period from Eberechi Eze's free-kick, we created the better chances in either half.
Marc Cucurella had a header cleared off the line early on and in the second half, both Estevao and Andrey Santos could have scored with shots from inside the penalty area.
But in the end, Chelsea had to settle for a point against the reigning FA Cup and Community Shield holders.
Maresca said: ‘We always try to win the game. Unfortunately, we didn’t win but overall we deserved [to].
‘We created enough chances in the first half and the second half. Apart from the free-kick, we didn’t concede any [clear-cut] chances.
‘But at the same time, we know how tough they are, how well organised they are, and that is why in the last two finals they have beaten Liverpool and Manchester City.’
Chelsea's victorious Club World Cup campaign meant the players only had a few weeks off and then a much shorter pre-season compared to our Premier League rivals.
The Blues enjoyed impressive victories over Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan last weekend during our two warm-up games but Maresca was asked if he felt our shorter pre-season had an effect against Palace.
‘I don’t think so,' he replied, 'because until the end we competed and we tried to win the game. We had some chances at the end with Estevao and Andrey Santos, so that showed that we competed overall quite well.
‘For sure, they played seven or eight games and we played two games last weekend where we shared the minutes, so for sure this was the first real game today but for sure slowly slowly we are going to be better.’
Chelsea had ten attempts at goal, with three of those on target, and Maresca was then asked how important it was for the Blues to find our cutting edge sooner rather than later.
He said: ‘I have said many times that I do not think about May or June when the season will be finished. I try to think about the next one, the next game, so now it is about Friday’s game and no more than that.’