Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 1: Blues’ faltering Premier League title fight dealt another blow after late Mateta equaliser
Share:
Sponsored by. JEAN-PHILIPPE MATETA crashed landed on Chelsea's idea reigniting their title charge as his late goal earned Crystal Palace a vital point in the fight against relegation. Cole Palmer's early ice cold finish against looked to have been enough to earn Chelsea three points in a hard-fought London derby.
![[Cole Palmer's cool first-half finish looked to be enough to earn Chelsea three points]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/cole-palmer-chelsea-celebrates-scoring-961483940.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The Blues talisman had struck after just 14 minutes when Jadon Sancho brilliantly weaved the ball between two Palace defenders to find Palmer in the penalty area. Palmer then made no mistake with his finish as he took a neat touch before slotting a shot into the bottom right corner.
![[That was until Jean-Philippe Mateta struck late on to ensure the spoils were shared]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/jean-philippe-mateta-crystal-palace-961501187.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
That goal was the 22-year-old's 13th Premier League goal of the season, which also added to the six assists he has. However, one sloppy pass out the back from Robert Sanchez in the 82nd minute left Palmer in all sorts of trouble surrounded by Palace midfielders.
The Eagles won the ball back before launching a lightning counter-attack. The ball was slipped towards Eberechi Eze before he unselfishly played the ball square across goal to set up Mateta for a tap in. It left Enzo Maresca's side without a win in four league games to further stunt their title challenge.
