Crystal Palace earned their first point of the season against Chelsea after going behind.

The Eagles looked lethargic in the first half, and very much a team in need of reinforcements, as three of their deadline day summer additions watched on from the stands.

Chelsea dominated possession and finished with an xG of 2.42 but a combination of poor finishing and outstanding goalkeeping from Dean Henderson limited the Blues to a solitary goal.

A moment of magic from Eberechi Eze in a resurgent second half from the Eagles was enough to secure a vital away draw for Oliver Glasner's men, with Palace ending a run of 14 consecutive defeats against Chelsea.

Doucoure and Wharton provide the platform Palace were much improved when Cheick Doucoure replaced Will Hughes on 50 minutes, with the former Watford midfielder lucky to have escaped a second yellow card.

The introduction of Doucoure made the Eagles much more secure and built a platform for Eze to pull a wonder strike out of his extensive box of tricks.

Much of the focus at Palace since Glasner's arrival at Selhurst Park has been the scintillating attacking quality demonstrated by the likes of Eze, Jean-Philippe Mateta and the now departed Michael Olise,, but the performance against Chelsea demonstrated how influential the midfield pivot of Doucoure and Adam Wharton will be to provide a platform to Palace's success.

Hughes is a ferocious player who adds much needed bite, and has excelled during Glasner's tenure, but the combination of progressive passing, duelling and ball recoveries that the Wharton - Doucoure axis provides, allows Palace more control in midfield, as well as more pace and mobility to help cover more ground, and engage in the press.

This adjustment allowed Eze to have more freedom, but also crucially increased the speed of attack, with Doucoure able to break the lines more frequently, allowing Eze to receive the ball earlier in transition and thus have more space to attack.

This made all the difference in allowing Eze to drive at the Chelsea defence and help Palace create overloads before the opposition's defensive midfielders could reposition in recovery.

Palace need the international break Even though the Eagles looked much more assertive in the second half, they still looked to tire towards the end of the game, with energy lacking throughout the squad.

Glasner has previously spoken at managing the minutes of his players who represented their nations during summer tournaments, with them not at full capacity.

There is no doubt that the new additions are very welcome to allow Glasner greater rotation in the squad.

The international break offers the Austrian manager a couple of weeks to integrate the Eagles new signings into the squad, to work on tactical aspects and allows key players to receive sufficient recovery.

Easy to see the additions fitting in There has been much speculation of how Glasner will utilise new signing Eddie Nketiah given the flying form of Mateta under the Austrian.

Glasner may opt to utilise an adjusted 3-4-1-2 shape, which he has previously operated at Eintracht Frankfurt and VfL Wolfsburg. Here it was also evident that it is important to have a quality striker who could play in the current system when Mateta simply needs a break or has an off-day.

The Frenchman struggled to get involved in the game, often being isolated, and unable to showcase the strong hold-up play he frequently provides. Ismaila Sarr replaced Mateta as the central striker, and whilst showing glimpses of quality, the addition of Nketiah provides a more suitable alternative going forward.

Nathaniel Clyne has performed impressively at the half-back role since Glasner took over, including another solid performance at Stamford Bridge, but at 33 the defender can not be expected to be called upon every match, and the arrival of Trevor Chalobah offers Palace an alternative option.

The on-loan Chelsea defender can play at centre-back or in midfield, and has previously played at wing-back, providing a range of depth to Palace.

Henderson quietens the doubters The signing of Dean Henderson brought much scepticism, especially given Sam Johnstone had performed adequately in the Palace goal.

With the latter having departed, and Henderson made number one, there was much pressure on the former Manchester United stopper to perform. So far this season theHenderson has seen much scrutiny from social media, with his previous price tag bringing much expectation.

His performance against Chelsea was was another step in showing all those doubters may have misjudged the England keeper. Henderson was nothing short of outstanding against Chelsea, making six saves, with a reflex stop to deny Noni Madueke the pick of the bunch.

The Eagles keeper also helped secure the points when smartly stopping Nicolas Jackson at the death, when the Blues striker raced raced through on goal. At 27-years-old, Henderson is surely only starting to come into his prime, and Palace will hope he can continue to remain fit and perform at the same consistent level.

After the international break, the South London side will welcome newly promoted Leicester to Selhurst Park, with Palace hoping to earn their first victory of the Premier League 2024/25 season.