**Oliver Glasner**’s Crystal Palace held Chelsea to a goalless draw in their Premier League 2025/26 curtain raiser.
The Eagles began positively, and thought they had broken the deadlock when an Eberechi Eze free-kick thundered past Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
VAR intervened to rule out the goal, but Palace continually took the game to the Club World Cup champions in the first half.
Palace often found themselves occupying good positions, after forcing turnovers high up the pitch, but the quality of the final ball alluded the visitors.
The second half saw **Enzo Maresca**’s side make a slight resurgence, but Palace held firm to earn a valuable point away from home to kickstart their campaign.
Here are four things we learnt from the 0-0 draw:
The Eagles in Flying Form
Sunday’s draw saw Palace extend their unbeaten run to 10 matches. Within that time, the Eagles have faced Liverpool in the Community Shield, Manchester City and Aston Villa in their historic FA Cup triumph, Arsenal and now Club World Cup champions Chelsea.
In fact, since Palace’s barren run at the start of the 2024/25 Premier League season, Glasner’s side have developed into a formidable opponent.
The South London club have become a well organised unit, who based upon their defensive foundations, are difficult for opposing sides to break down. With their attacking quality, Glasner’s side are also able to put other teams to the sword.
With Palace entering a crucial part of their season with four fixtures in just two weeks, including the UEFA Conference League play-off and league fixtures against Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa, it is imperative the team from Selhurst Park continue their remarkable efforts.
Palace’s Solid Foundation
Since Glasner’s appointment at Palace in March 2024, only Manchester City and Arsenal have recorded more clean sheets than the Eagles.
The 3-4-2-1 system deployed by the Austrian manager provides Palace with a solid structure that is difficult for opposing sides to break down.
The back three of Chris Richards, Maxence Lacroix and Marc Guehi are all very adaptable defenders, who can defend large space using their pace and are dominant in their duels.
Sunday was no different, with the Palace defenders aggressively engaging the Chelsea attackers and smothering them successfully for the majority of the match.
The midfield pivot provided protection in front of the defence, and the wing-backs worked tirelessly up and down the flanks to engage in the Palace press, before recovering diligently to form the defensive structure if Palace did not force a turnover with their press.
The Eagles' defensive effort saw them reduce Chelsea’s illustrious attack to just three shots on target, winning 47 duels and making 41 clearances in the goalless draw.
The Magic of Eze
The brilliance of Eze was on display once again on Sunday, particularly in the first half.
The England international was gliding around the pitch past opposition defenders and controlling all positive outlets for the visitors. His exquisite trickery and range of passing were in full effect, even if his decision making was not quite at its optimum.
Eze produced the one moment of magic to blast a free-kick into the net, which was ruled out due to Marc Guehi infringing closer than one metre to the Chelsea defensive wall.
With rumours of a departure circulating, it would be a travesty for Palace to lose their talisman who has become the key factor in all they do.
If Eze is to depart, he does so as a club legend, and one who delivered them their first major silverware with his antics in the FA Cup pivotal along their journey, including the match winning strike versus Manchester City.
The Importance of Recruitment
Despite a glowing first half, it became apparent in the second period that the quality of depth on the Chelsea bench significantly dwarfed their opposition.
The array of options allowed Maresca’s side to wrestle back an element of control, and seize the initiative in the latter stages.
With Palace attempting to compete on four fronts this season, the depth in the squad vastly needs increasing.
This will only be magnified if the aforementioned Eze and club captain Guehi depart.
If Palace really do wish to compete and push to the level of their aspirations, the remainder of the transfer window is of vast importance.
Glasner has previously said he recommended the club sign at least three players, and any departures will only add to that number.
Therefore, the Eagles must support their manager and add the required talent to the squad if they wish to continue their scintillating form and achieve the next step as a football club.