Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace Draw: The Blues Fail to Win in Their Premier League Opener

Liputan6.com, Jakarta The opening match of the 2025/2026 Premier League season between Chelsea F.C. and Crystal Palace F.C. ended in a goalless 0-0 draw.

The match, which took place at Chelsea's home ground, Stamford Bridge, on Sunday, August 17, 2025 left Blues fans disappointed.

Despite dominating possession, Chelsea struggled to penetrate Crystal Palace's solid defense.

The visitors even had a goal through Eberechi Eze's free kick in the 13th minute, but it was disallowed by VAR due to a visual obstruction.

This draw puts Chelsea in ninth place in the Premier League standings with one point, while Crystal Palace is one point behind.

Many consider this result to be the result of a "Club World Cup hangover" after Chelsea's recent Club World Cup victory.

Statistically, Chelsea shows their dominance in this match with 72 percent possession.

The Blues also had a total of 19 shots on goal, reflecting the intensity of their attacks throughout the 90 minutes.

However, this dominance was not directly proportional to the effectiveness of the attack built by Enzo Maresca's squad.

Of the 19 shots attempted, only a few actually threatened the Crystal Palace goal, leaving goalkeeper Dean Henderson with little to do.

Conversely, Crystal Palace, despite defending more, were more effective in capitalizing on their chances.

They recorded four more shots on target than Chelsea, demonstrating their ability to create serious threats with minimal attack.

The most controversial moment in the Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace match occurred in the 13th minute when Crystal Palace's goal from Eberechi Eze's free kick was disallowed.

The VAR decision determined that Palace captain Marc Guehi was too close to the Chelsea wall, blocking the goalkeeper's view.

The referee announced: "After review, away number six is less than one metre away from the wall as the shot is taken. Therefore, it's an indirect free kick and a disallowed goal."

Several new Chelsea players, including Estevao, Jorrel Hato, Dario Essugo, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, and Joao Pedro, were involved in the match.

However, their performances were unable to make a significant impact in breaking the deadlock.

Estevao, who had previously impressed in the Club World Cup, struggled to reproduce the same form in this Premier League opener.

Enzo Maresca himself had previously stated that Crystal Palace would be a very difficult opponent, considering Palace's impressive form by winning the FA Cup and Community Shield last season.

“We always try to win the game. Unfortunately, we didn’t win but overall we deserved [to]," Chelsea manager, Enzo Maresca said, as reported by Premier League official website.

“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.

This goalless draw marked a less than ideal start to the 2025/2026 Premier League season for Chelsea.

The high expectations they had after winning the Club World Cup seemed to fall short in this opening match.

Nevertheless, manager Enzo Maresca and his team have had time to evaluate and improve their performance.