Chelsea v Crystal Palace player ratings
Ebere Eze’s superb strike denied Chelsea victory at Stamford Bridge. Here how we rated each Blues player in the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace.
Robert Sanchez: 6
Looked comfortable with the ball at his feet and helped Chelsea build out from the back. Made a couple of saves but could do little about Eze’s brilliant equaliser.
Malo Gusto: 6
Supported attacks down the right but did little to catch the eye on an afternoon that saw him struggle with injury. Hobbled off in the 73rd minute after pulling up.
Wesley Fofana: 6
Provided cover on the right side of defence as Gusto pushed forward in attacking phases. Also played a good first-half ball over the top of the Crystal Palace defence, releasing Noni Madueke for a big chance.
Levi Colwill: 6
Unlucky not to score with a back-post header that was tipped around the post early in the second half. Dealt with the threat of Jean-Philippe Mateta fairly well, restricting the Palace striker to scraps before he was subbed off.
Marc Cucurella: 6
Showed signs of a budding partnership down the left with Pedro Neto and released the forward on a number of occasions. Didn’t appear to be on the same wavelength as Joao Felix, who replaced Neto. Made an important block late on as Palace threatened a winner.
Moises Caicedo: 7
Did the dirty work well as his midfield partner pushed forward. Spent much of the game sitting deep and broke down a few Palace attacks with important tackles.
Enzo Fernandez: 7
Put in a good shift in midfield, often picking up positions around the opposition box as he looked to combine with Chelsea’s forwards.
Noni Madueke: 7
Could have scored twice inside the opening 25 minutes, first firing wide before being denied from point-blank range after connecting with Fernandez’s cross at the back post. Combined well with Cole Palmer to set up Chelsea’s goal, but faded in the second half.
Cole Palmer: 8
Provided the assist for the opening goal, squaring for Nicolas Jackson to tap in after a sweeping counter-attack. Orchestrated the game from deeper positions and came close to scoring from a free-kick, drawing a fine save from Dean Henderson.
Pedro Neto: 6
Made a bright start on the left flank but faded as the game progressed and often found himself crowded out against two defenders. Would have hoped to make more of an impression given Chelsea’s depth, and was replaced by Joao Felix on the hour mark.
Nicolas Jackson: 7
Tapped in the opening goal after good work from Madueke and Palmer on the counter, but contributed little after that. Missed two decent chances in added time and perhaps should have won Chelsea the game.
Joao Felix: 6
Unable to follow up last week’s positive cameo and struggled to get a foothold in a scrappy game.
Mykhailo Mudryk: 6
Made little impact off the bench.
Christopher Nkunku: 6
Forced his way into the box late on as Chelsea searched for a winner, but could only force a save from Henderson as he was crowded out by defenders.
