A dominant first-half display saw the Blues deservedly lead at the break courtesy of a well-worked Nicolas Jackson goal.

But a fine strike from Eberechi Eze in the second half meant the Eagles returned to south London with a point.

Changes once again

Maresca reverted to a line-up which was very similar to the one that beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 6-2 last weekend, with Pedro Neto starting in place of Mykhailo Mudryk compared to that XI.

It meant there were nine alterations to the side which played Servette in the Conference League on Thursday, with Enzo Fernandez and Noni Madueke the only players to start that fixture and today's game with Crystal Palace.

Maresca's footballing philosophy involves trying to create overloads in certain areas of the pitch and the Blues looked to do that by pushing Malo Gusto into the midfield when in possession and Marc Cucurella was encouraged to advance down the left flank, meaning we often had seven players in the attacking third early on.

Bright start

The Blues dominated possession in the opening quarter of an hour and went close to scoring when Cole Palmer, who was presented with his PFA Young Player of the Year award pre-match in front of the Stamford Bridge faithful, curled a 20-yard shot just wide of the far post.

Palace gained more of a foothold as the opening period went on and England international Adam Wharton forced Robert Sanchez into a routine stop just after the quarter of an hour mark.

Chelsea could have opened the scoring twice in quick succession through Madueke midway through the first half.

Firstly, Wesley Fofana's ball forward saw Jackson show good strength to outmuscle the centre-half and Madueke was through on goal. Unfortunately the recently called up England international's left-footed shot from ten yards went wide of the far post.

Madueke almost made amends moments later when he volleyed an exquisite curled pass from Fernandez towards goal from close range but Dean Henderson produced an exceptional fingertip save as the ball was directed on to the crossbar.

Opening goal

The goal we deserved finally arrived in the 25th minute through a slick counter-attack and again Madueke was heavily involved. After receiving the ball deep in his own half, the 22-year-old skipped past Will Hughes and after progressing the ball 30 yards, slipped in Palmer, who had burst into the box, and his neat reverse flick, beat the diving Henderson and was tapped in at the far post by Jackson.

The clear-cut chances reduced as the half came to a close. Jackson had a header saved and Malo Gusto saw a goal-bound shot blocked but the Blues had to settle for 1-0 at the break.

We did almost grab a second immediately after the restart though. After Hughes had given away a free-kick which could have seen him given a second yellow card, Palmer curled in a 20-yard free-kick which had to be palmed over the bar by Henderson.

The resulting corner saw the England goalkeeper produce another fine stop as he pushed Levi Colwill's downward header wide.

Equaliser

But it was Crystal Palace who were to score the game's second goal. The Blues were unable to fully clear an attack and after gathering the ball, Wharton dribbled into the box. Wesley Fofana made an impressive block initially to deny Cheick Doucoure's shot from the edge of the box but the ball fell to the feet of Eberechi Eze and he curled the ball past the diving Sanchez from 20 yards out.

Chelsea were unable to control the game and possession as they had in the first half during the second period as the match become a little more scrappy.

There was a blow for the Blues with just over a quarter of an hour remaining when Malo Gusto was forced off injured, with Mykhailo Mudryk coming on and Moises Caicedo dropping to right back, with Fernandez moving into a deeper midfield position.

There was a moment of fortune for Chelsea as a powerful Daichi Kamada shot squirmed through the grasp of Sanchez but the goalkeeper had got enough on the save and the ball just went over the bar.

Both teams continued to search for a winner and during eight minutes of injury-time and moments after Eze had a goal-bound shot blocked by Cucurella, a dangerous counter-attack saw Jackson shoot against the side netting from just outside the penalty area.

It looked as though the Blues were about to find that crucial second goal when another classy clipped ball from Fernandez released Jackson and although the striker's touch was good as he burst into the box, his left-footed shot was saved once again by the excellent Henderson.

Chelsea laid siege to Palace's half but were unable to find the clinical edge needed and in fact had to block Tyrick Mitchell's shot from seven yards out with the final kick of the game.

What next

This was the Blues' final game before the international break. Next up for Chelsea is a trip to Bournemouth on Saturday 14 September. With the game being shown on Sky Sports, kick-off will be at 8pm BST.

The teams

Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto (Mudryk 74), Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella, Caicedo, Enzo (c), Madueke (Nkunku 86), Palmer, Neto (Joao Felix 58), Jackson
Subs not used: Jorgensen, Disasi, Tosin, Veiga, Casadei, Dewsbury-Hall
Goals: Jackson 25
Booked: Neto 8, Fofana 32, Jackson 63, Palmer 90+1

Palace: Henderson; Munoz, Richards, Clyne, Guehi, Mitchell; Wharton, Hughes (Doucoure 50); Kamada (Schlupp 88), Eze, Mateta (Sarr 69)
Subs not used: Matthews, Ward, Rodney, Umeh, Devenny, Agbinone
Goals: Eze 53
Booked: Hughes 13, Munoz 89

Referee: Jarred Gillett
Attendance: 39,298