Crystal Palace 1-1 Chelsea: Mateta's strike helps Palace secure draw against Blues

Crystal Palace secured a late point with a 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Selhurst Park, extending the Blues' winless streak into 2025.

It was Jean-Philippe Mateta who hit back for Palace in the 82nd minute after Chelsea were seemingly coasting to victory off Cole Palmer's early goal.

Mateta's goal further compounded Chelsea's festive slump as their winless streak extended to four games and their audacious title hopes faltered further.

With weather warnings promising near sub-zero temperatures, it was no surprise when an ice-cold Palmer slotted the ball past Dean Henderson to open the scoring (14). While the finish was impressive, the assist from Jadon Sancho stole the show as he beat Chris Richards with a neat piece of skill before finding Palmer with a cross into the area.

The early exchanges belonged entirely to the visitors with Chelsea's wingers enjoying large amounts of the ball as they troubled Tyrick Mitchell and Daniel Munoz. The first chance fell Chelsea's way in a move that set the tone for proceedings when Pedro Neto whipped a ball into the area looking for Sancho who blazed his first-time volley over in the third minute.

Palace grew into the contest after Chelsea's goal, spurred on by the Selhurst faithful, mounting efforts of their own with Mateta seeing his chance glance wide after being set up by Munoz.

But the first half belonged to Enzo Maresca's side who had a couple of opportunities with Nicolas Jackson firing wide before 18-year-old Premier League debutant Josh Acheampong nodded an effort wide.

Palace emerged from the half-time interval the better of the two sides with Eberechi Eze spurning a huge opportunity just moments after the restart. Palace continued to battle for the equaliser with Robert Sanchez drawn into making an impressive stop to keep out Richards.

Chelsea felt they should have had a penalty when Mitchell lunged in on Neto but after a brief VAR check, the challenge was cleared. Palace's efforts were eventually rewarded though to claim a point that sees them move six points clear of the drop zone.

Chelsea, denied the chance to leapfrog Crystal Palace, stay in fourth place.

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