What Estevao Willian did for Chelsea as Pedro Neto gets angry against Crystal Palace

Chelsea were thwarted by a resilient Crystal Palace side on the opening day of the new Premier League season.Enzo Maresca's men could not find a way through against the FA Cup holders and were left with a point to kick off the new campaign.

Eberechi Eze thought he had given Palace an early lead after firing a free kick through the Chelsea wall and Robert Sanchez's hands. That was ruled out after a VAR check deemed Marc Guehi to have been too close to the Chelsea bodies attempting to form a shield in front of the goal.

Chelsea found themselves increasingly on top in an improved second half, but still found life hard when it came to creating genuine opportunities. Late efforts from Andrey Santos and Liam Delap offered signs of improvement but it was too little, too late.

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Here, football.london goes through some of the bits from the match you might have missed on first viewing.

Set-piece fortunes

Chelsea almost fell behind in this game courtesy of a set-piece after Eze's disallowed free kick, but it was chalked off after a VAR review and pitchside check by referee Darren England. To the dismay of Palace, Eze, and captain Guehi, the game would remain level.

Palace also threatened from crosses being swung into the box, as well as a long throw which caused uncertainty in the Chelsea defence. Oliver Glasner's side created their biggest chances of the first half from dead-ball situations but also nearly conceded from them as well.

In a first half that was played between two physical sides, corners were the best route through for Maresca. Watched on by specialist set-piece coach Bernardo Cueva, who helped to make subtle but noticeable improvements last season, Chelsea were strong when they did get corners.

An early set saw a clear pattern of either Reece James orPedro Neto swinging the ball into the near post for flick-ons. Marc Cucurella aimed one towards the far post, where it was cleared off the line by Ismaila Sarr, and Trevoh Chalobah had the ball fall at his feet as well only for a close-range shot to be fired over.

Whilst Palace almost benefitted from set-pieces, Chelsea had their best chances from the same source. It provides both a reason to be happy for Cueva but also more to work on.

Estevao's introduction

It took less than four minutes forEstevao Willian to mark his Premier League debut with a moment of sheer Brazilian flair. Aged 18 and brought on from the bench after Jamie Gittens had struggled to make much of an impact on the left, Estevao was straight into action on the right-flank.

Receiving the ball on the corner of the box and faced up with a crowd of yellow shirts, Estevao wriggled free and jagged the ball past Guehi, darting towards the line. He entered the Palace area, fighting to get through before putting in a right-footed cross.

The end product was lacking after a pass that was too high for any of his teammates, but represented an immediate introduction to life in the top flight. A few moments later he dribbled fearlessly to shrug off two more Palace bodies before passing into Joao Pedro.

Eden Hazard gazed down on the pitch from high up in the main Stamford Bridge box with co-owners Behdad Eghbali andTodd Boehly, his arms folded, and must have enjoyed what he was seeing from the next rising star of the world game. Estevao took on the responsibility to entertain that Hazard had for so long, raising his arms to the crowd and asking for more noise straight away as Chelsea pushed for a way through.

Not-o brilliant

This was a lacklustre performance on the whole from Chelsea as they laboured in breaking down Palace, who showed much more intensity, physicality, and quality than either Bayer Leverkusen or Milan had in pre-season friendlies last weekend.Evidence of the frustration was written clearly on Neto's face throughout.

Having been the most in-form attacker for Chelsea throughout most of 2025, he was often seen with a pained expression. Whether it was from chasing down long balls or grimacing after a cross evaded his target, Neto never looked entirely comfortable or happy.

He was switched from his favoured right-wing to the left before the hour mark when Maresca opted to turn to Estevao from the bench, replacing Gittens. That didn't help matters much as Chelsea continued to run into a firm block of well-organised Palace defence.

At one stage in the first half, Neto misjudged a pass from Chalobah, allowing it to bounce rather than meeting it on the full, and it would go over his head and out of play. Neto didn't go as far as shouting at Chalobah but did show his anger, more so at the outcome rather than pass itself. That summed up Chelsea's day.