a day ago
Chelsea 0 Crystal Palace 0: Pedro and Gittens make promising debuts
It felt like the first day of school after the summer holidays at the Bridge as Chelsea played out a goalless draw against Palace.
There were a few new boys in the class, and one or two absentees, as the Club World Cup champions took on the FA Cup winners in the baking sunshine.
Joao Pedro began up front (Liam Delap replaced him midway through the second half), while Jamie Gittens, signed from Borussia Dortmund as Jadon Sancho's replacement on the left wing, looked promising.
With Levi Colwill likely to miss months of action after knee surgery, 6ft 3in teenager Josh Acheampong made a bright start deputising in central defence.
The clean sheet will have boosted his confidence.
But Chelsea really should have turned 70% possession into at least one goal, as chance after chance ended up in Row Z.
Crystal Palace did manage to get the ball in the net, via an Eberechi Eze rocket of a free kick after 13 minutes.
But the away fans' delirium was snuffed out by a VAR review.
The Blues had only four weeks to recuperate after their summer adventure in the USA, winning the Club World Cup by defeating PSG and banking £85million in prize money along the way.
So maybe it was too much to expect fireworks on the pitch in addition to the fireworks launched from the stadium roof before kick-off to mark their new title.
"We created enough chances," said rueful manager Enzo Maresco, adding that he felt Chelsea deserved victory.
Perplexingly for Chelsea fans, who overwhelmingly opt for Cole Palmer's name on the back of their replica shirts, he has switched from 20 to 10, taking over the in-limbo Mykhailo Mudryk's shirt number to mirror his idol Lionel Messi.
New striker Joao Pedro has taken 20, which means the tills will be ringing in the club shop as weary parents are nagged for replacements to last season's versions at £100 a pop.
Emerging into the Fulham Road after Sunday's 0-0 draw, both Palmer 10s and 20s were widely on show.
