Crystal Palace claimed a late point with a 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Selhurst Park as the Blues' winless run continued 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.

Player ratings:

Crystal Palace: Henderson (5), Richards (6), Lacroix (7), Guéhi (6), Muñoz (8), Doucouré (6), Lerma (6), Mitchell (7), Sarr(6), Eze (7), Mateta (7).

Subs: Nketiah (n/a), Kamada (7)

Chelsea: Sanchez (7), Gusto (7), Acheampong (7), Colwill (6), Cucurella (6), Caicedo (7), Fernandez (6), Neto (7), Palmer (7), Jackson (5), Sancho (8)

Subs:  Madueke (n/a), Guiu (n/a)

Player of the Match: Jadon Sancho

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 Nottingham Forest, stay in fourth place.

Glasner: Munoz performance sparked us

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner:

"I think it's a deserved point. We were struggling, especially in the first 30 minutes. Chelsea were clearly the better team. We were too passive, lost the balls too quickly and the pressure increased until we were 1-0 down. I think already at the end of the first half we did better, playing more in the half.

"Daniel Munoz, especially in the second half, with his runs... I think before the goal it was the fourth or fifth ball he was winning in the opposite half. With his passion, his intensity and his playing, he is very important to us.

"But in the end, we can just draw against Chelsea if the whole team is performing well. This is what we did, especially in the last 60 minutes."

Maresca: We did enough to win

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca:

"Probably we did enough to win the game today. Between the first half and second half, I think we created chances enough to win the game.

"But in football you need to be clinical otherwise the game is always open, especially in this stadium. Any transition, any corner boosts the energy for them. Unfortunately in the end we conceded but overall I think today we did enough to win the game.

On Josh Acheampong's debut:

"All the players were good today but if I had to decide for one, Josh was the best player. He can be a top player for this club. We decided today because we saw he was ready. Today he showed how good he is.

"Even if we don't decide to buy players or sell players, we already knew Josh was good enough. But with Benoit [Badiashile] and Wesley [Fofana]'s injuries, we will see if something can happen."

Teams

Crystal Palace Henderson; Guehi (c), Lacroix, Richards; Munoz, Doucoure (Kamada 69), Lerma, Mitchell; Sarr, Eze (Nketiah 87); Mateta
Subs Not Used Turner, Riad, Clyne, Devenny, Schlupp, Kporha, Agbinone
Booked
Goals Mateta 82

Chelsea Sanchez, Gusto, Acheampong, Colwill, Cucurella, Caicedo, Fernandez (c), Neto, Palmer, Sancho Madueke 86), Jackson (Guiu 81)
Subs Not Used Jorgensen, James, Disasi, Tosin, Veiga, Joao Felix, Nkunku
Booked Colwill, Fernandez
Goals Palmer 14

Attendance 25,179

Referee Tim Robinson

VAR Paul Tierney