Chelsea failed to grab 3 points in their first game of the Premier League season against Crystal Palace in the opening match of the new Premier League campaign.
The Blues weren’t up to the races, and they didn’t carry on with the momentum that they built during the ClubWorld Cup**** run and the pre-season games. The team that plays at Stamford Bridge was lacklustre, sloppy on the ball, they couldn’t play through the Eagles' lines and did not put their opponents under the cosh.
It was a totally different performance compared to the ones during the last 3 months. This performance was totally unforeseen, and it came out of the blue. Dean Henderson and the Crystal Palace defence weren’t tested enough; they weren’t given a run for their money.
Chelsea struggled to break the Palace wall, and the number of clear-cut chances that they created throughout the match was very few and far between. Their opponents came in with a game plan which was to be compact, resolute, solid defensively, and put their bodies on the line, and they executed it to a tee.
The Chelsea players will be kicking themselves because this was a golden chance to start the season like a bat out of hell, but they let the chance slip from their fingers in particularly offensively/ going forward.
Starting eleven
Robert Sanchez-6
The Spanish international didn’t put a foot wrong for most of the game. He should have done better to prevent Eberechi Eze’s disallowed goal.
However, the 27-year-old commanded his area efficiently, and he claimed the crosses that came into the box. The one downside of the goalkeeper's performance today is that there were plenty of times when he gave the ball away cheaply after passing the ball long in order to try and get Chelsea on the front foot. His distribution wasn’t the most accurate during the match.
Reece James-7
The Chelsea academy graduate was rock solid defensively. The right back won the majority of his one-versus-one duels, which was impressive when taking into account that he was up against a very technical and shifty player in Eze.
Due to Enzo Maresca’s instructions, the 2021 Champions League forward didn’t cross the halfway line as much as he had previously. Although he defended at a high level, and didn’t give Eze the time and space that he desired when he had the ball.
Josh Acheampong-7
Considering the fact that this was Acheampong’s fifth appearance in the Premier League in his young career thus far, the centre back held his own against a dominant, physical striker like Jean-Philippe Mateta.
He was always in the right places defensively to clear the danger. The cherry on the cake for him and Enzo Marasca is that the occasion was not too big for the young defender. The 19-year-old rose to the occasion after being thrown into the fire due to how many centre-backs missed the game, and he fully grasped his opportunity.
Trevor Chalobah-6
The English international was up to the task defensively and was always alert whenever Crystal Palace were trying to catch Chelsea off guard by launching counterattacks. He didn’t put a foot wrong defensively, but his weight of passes and lack of forward passes were something that couldn’t be ignored.
Chalobah also missed a gilt-edged chance inside **Crystal Palace**’s area by skying his shot over the bar from close range during the first half.
Marc Cucurella-6
The 27-year-old left back was given more license to invert and get further up the pitch. The Spanish international was solid when called up defensively, but he didn’t get too involved in the build-up from deep.
Although he did receive the ball in higher areas. However, the downside was that he didn’t create any chances for his teammates and not being in crossing areas from out wide played a part in that.
Enzo Fernandez-4
The Argentinian’s defensive side of the game came into question in previous seasons. Today, that issue reared its ugly head again. The World Cup winner struggled to grab the game by the scruff of the neck, he came second best in a plethora of 50-50 balls, and he allowed the opposing players to run through him like a knife through butter.
On the ball, the midfielder was sloppy; he ran the ball out of play twice when there was no Crystal Palace player around him, and he didn’t get a foothold in the game at all.
Moises Caicedo-8
The Ecuadorian was pretty much flawless throughout the match. There were many instances when he took control of Chelsea’s midfield on his own. In fact, if it wasn’t for some of Caicedo’s crucial/vital interceptions, Crystal Palace would have asked a lot more questions of the Blues' defence.
The midfield general grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck, on and especially off the ball. He was a key figure in stopping a lot of Crystal Palace counterattacks.
On top of this, he was sharp and tenacious when going into every challenge; he covered a lot of ground in the middle of the park and kept the game ticking. Out of the two centre midfielders, the 23-year-old certainly stood out.
Jamie Gittens-5
The new signing wasn’t as involved compared to the game against Bayer Leverkusen, for example, and Daniel Munoz got the better of Gittens in today’s contest.
The former Borussia Dortmund winger was isolated for large portions of the match, but when he did receive the ball, he struggled to create havoc and couldn’t win his individual duels against the Crystal Palace right back.
Cole Palmer-4
Chelsea’s star man was unable to stamp his authority on the contest. The attacking midfielder couldn’t get a foothold in the game, and that creative spark that he so often has went out of the window.
Crystal Palace did a magnificent job of stopping him from getting the ball near the edge of their own penalty area, and the playmaker was totally and utterly quiet. Part of this is due to how aggressively his opponents defended him whenever he touched the ball, but that still doesn’t change the fact that Cole Palmer played so far below what is expected of him.
Pedro Neto-6
Out of all the attacking players that started the match , Pedro Neto was the most lively and engaged. The Portuguese international was direct; he was advancing the ball up the pitch and gave Tyrique Mitchell a run for his time on various occasions.
However, what let the winger down today was that his final pass, his crosses or his shots weren’t up to scratch.
Joao Pedro-5
This was the Brazilian’s worst performance in a Chelsea shirt after 6 matches. The Blues fanbase had sky-high expectations about the former Brighton forward after he lit up the Club World Cup and the pre-season games.
The striker was closely marked by the Palace defenders Marc Guehi and Maxence Lacroix. During the Club World Cup final against PSG, Pedro linked up with his teammates well.
He ran into the space and was very fluid. However, this Sunday, he struggled to get himself into the game, and there was no space for him to run behind the opposing defence.
On top of this, his teammates didn’t play to his strengths because, rather than playing the ball to him into the ground, there were a plethora of times when they hoofed the ball to him. The attacker didn’t get enough service, and Crystal Palace did a wonderful job of nullifying the in-form striker.
Substitutes
Estevao Willian- 7
The “ wonderkid” was a bright spark in the match. He instantly made a positive impact and injected some urgency and intensity into his side. The 18-year-old put Mitchell on the back foot and caused issues down Palace’s left-hand side.
It was evident to see that more gaps started to open up later on in the game because he was being double-teamed or even triple-teamed on certain occasions.
This opened up more spaces for the Chelsea players in different areas of the pitch. Throughout his short stint at Chelsea, Estevao has excited the fans and has given Maresca a selection headache regarding which winger he is going to start. This was another step in the right direction for the former Palmerias star.
Liam Delap- 6
The English international was getting stuck in and held up the ball well against Lacroix after entering the pitch in the 73rd minute. He was inches away from tapping the ball home from close range towards the latter stages of the game after Cucurella headed the ball down inside the Eagles’ penalty area.
However, the ball was too far ahead of the striker to reach. On top of this, he had a shot on target in the 90th minute, but that was not enough to trouble Dean Henderson. Overall, Delap looked lively, and he got himself about as much as he possibly could, considering how many minutes he was on the pitch for.
Malo Gusto-4
The French right back came on the pitch during the 79th minute. Despite that he saw plenty of the ball, his crossing and decision-making fell short of the requirements.
The shot that he blazed over the bar in the 88th minute from 30 yards out summarised his performance in a short amount of time. He tried to become Chelsea’s hero by scoring a memorable goal from a long distance, but that clearly turned out to be the wrong decision in the end.
Andrey Santos-4
The Brazilian midfielder had a golden opportunity to break the deadlock and become Chelsea’s hero. This was the moment that he was waiting for. The ball fell to him inside the penalty area, totally unmarked.
There was no one around him, but the glory slipped away from his fingers because he blazed the ball a couple of yards over the crossbar. That was Chelsea’s best chance of the game by a country mile, but unfortunately, from his point of view, Santos was not ruthless and or clinical in front of goal in such a critical moment of the match. To add salt to the wounds, that chance came and went in the 93rd minute of the match.
By all accounts, that would have been the dagger to finally put Crystal Place to bed. The 21-year-old will be kicking himself after watching his chance back. However, on the bright side, there is a light at the end of the tunnel because he will reflect on the missed chance and will learn from this.