Having drawn 2-2 with Premier League champions Liverpool at Wembley last week – winning the Community Shield on penalty kicks – the Eagles were similarly competitive against Club World Cup winners Chelsea on the opening day of our league campaign.
Clear-cut chances were admittedly few and far between in a feisty encounter, but Palace perhaps could consider themselves unfortunate not to have taken the lead in the first-half when Ebere Eze’s powerful free-kick was disallowed by VAR, who cited Marc Guéhi’s proximity to the defensive wall.
“I'm very pleased with the performance today for most of the time,” the Manager told his post-match press conference.
“I think just at the end, we lost the ball too quickly and gave them two or three chances, but the defensive work was excellent, the players did a great job.
“We scored, but it was disallowed. We created two, three, four chances, but we didn't score, so that's why we take this point. It was a very good performance and a very good start to the season.
“I'm always talking about progress… last year we had a disallowed free kick at Brentford and we lost this year, we had a disallowed free kick and we drew! So the first step is the right one.”
