Chelsea Player Ratings vs. Crystal Palace: Brazilians Paint Bright Future

Liam Rosenior’s charges seemed at ease without the talismanic Cole Palmer.

Chelsea cruised to three points at Selhurst Park. | Chris Lee/Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC/Getty Images

Chelsea eased to a 3–1 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon, as teenage sensation Estêvão dazzled in south London.

After the Juventus-linked Jean-Philippe Mateta spurned a glorious early chance for the hosts, the two sides huffed and puffed in a bid to break the deadlock. It wasn’t until Estêvão capitalised on Jaydee Canvot’s error towards the end of the first half that Chelsea seemed comfortable, and they subsequently took the game away from Palace after half-time.

The excellent João Pedro added a second before Enzo Fernández scored from the spot in Cole Palmer’s absence. Adam Wharton’s second yellow card compounded Palace’s woes, although Oliver Glasner’s side did score a late consolation through Chris Richards.

Chelsea’s victory moves them up to fourth in the Premier League table, while Liam Rosenior has won four of his opening five games at the helm.

---

Chelsea Player Ratings vs. Crystal Palace (4-2-3-1)

Estêvão opened the scoring on the break. | Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC/Getty Images

*Ratings provided by Fotmob*

GK: Robert Sánchez—8.3: The contest may well have turned out differently had Sánchez not made a huge save to deny Mateta early on.

RB: Reece James—7.1: With James returning to right back, his excellent crossing delivery came to the fore. Crucially, it looks like he’s come through the game unscathed ahead of Wednesday’s pivotal trip to Naples.

CB: Trevoh Chalobah—7.2: Dealt with Mateta’s imposing presence well and produced a couple of excellent line-splitting passes to get Chelsea up the pitch.

CB: Benoît Badiashile—7.8: Recovered well enough after a shaky opening. Didn’t have much to do in the second half.

LB: Marc Cucurella—7.2: While Palace had some joy connecting down his flank in the opening period, Cucurella’s tireless effort meant he was a nuisance for the hosts when Chelsea pressed forward.

CM: Andrey Santos—7.5: Played a tidy-up role in the middle of the park, often forming a back five to match Palace’s frontline. Santos stuck to his task well, but there was a lapse or two in possession.

CM: Moisés Caicedo—7.2: Booked in the first half but did well to avoid further trouble. Instead, Adam Wharton was dismissed for fouling him later in the contest.

RM: Estêvão—8.3: The Brazilian burst into life after seizing upon Canvot’s error, finishing brilliantly on the breakaway to help Chelsea crack the game open. Was more involved in the second half before his withdrawal, teeing up Pedro’s strike and coming close to scoring his second with an effort from distance.

AM: Enzo Fernández—7.5: Drifted wide to escape Palace’s narrow block, and although he wasn’t overly effective as a playmaker, Fernández scored from the penalty spot.

LM: Pedro Neto—6.4: Neto had a few chances to break down the left, but often didn’t make the most of them.

ST: João Pedro—8.3: One of his brightest performances of the season. Pedro has been in good form since the managerial switch, with the Brazilian’s movement causing the Palace defence all sorts of issues.

Substitute	Rating (Out of 10)
Wesley Fofana (74’ Caicedo)	6.7
Malo Gusto (74’ for Neto)	6.6
Jamie Gittens (74’ for Estêvão)	6.0
Jorrel Hato (81’ for James)	6.6
Liam Delap (85’ for Pedro)	6.4

Subs not used: Teddy Sharman-Lowe (GK), Josh Acheampong, Alejandro Garnacho, Marc Guiu.

---

Crystal Palace (3-4-2-1)

Starting XI: Dean Henderson; Chris Richards, Maxence Lacroix, Jaydeen Canvot; Daniel Muñoz, Jefferson Lerman, Adam Wharton, Tyrick Mitchell; Ismaïla Sarr, Brennan Johnson, Jean-Philippe Mateta.

Subs used: Yéremy Pino, Borna Sosa, Chadi Riad, Will Hughes, Christantus Uche.

---

Player of the Match: Estêvão (Chelsea)

---

Crystal Palace 1–3 Chelsea: How it Unfolded at Selhurst Park

Chelsea continued their unbeaten run in this fixture. | Rob Newell/CameraSport/Getty Images

The fifth game of Rosenior’s Chelsea reign was just his second in the Premier League, and the new manager was aiming to extend the Blues’ impressive unbeaten record against Crystal Palace.

Oliver Glasner had Eberechi Eze and Marc Guéhi to call upon for the reverse fixture on the opening weekend of the season, but the Austrian is now without both in south London. Still, it was the out-of-sorts hosts who should’ve broken the deadlock amid a bright start to the game.

Benoît Badiashile had Robert Sánchez to thank for sparing his blushes, as the Spaniard’s big right boot kept Mateta’s poor finish out after the former Monaco defender had been dispossessed by the returning Ismaïla Sarr.

That would prove to be Palace’s only shot on target of the first half, as both teams, once again, cancelled one another out. Chelsea created a couple of chances via crosses from the left, but the contest seemed to be meandering towards half-time until a curious backpass from teenager Jaydee Canvot allowed Estêvão to break free.

Estevao just kept going, and going, and going 💨 pic.twitter.com/tohVOsLXNK

— Premier League (@premierleague) January 25, 2026

The Brazilian starlet superbly held off Tyrick Mitchell thanks to a blistering turn of pace and finished fiercely beyond new Palace skipper Dean Henderson. Estêvão then came close to doubling the away side’s lead from a similar situation, but on this occasion, the winger placed his right-footed effort wide from a narrow angle.

Glasner would’ve been pleased enough with his side’s first-half showing, despite the deficit, but the game was completely taken away from Palace within 15 minutes of the restart.

Estêvão was instrumental again, cleverly clipping a pass in behind for João Pedro to latch onto, and after the forward cut inside Adam Wharton, he crashed his shot through Henderson.

Chelsea got in down the right again in the build-up to their game-sealing third, with Reece James’ cross only partly parried away by Henderson. Pedro’s follow-up effort was deemed to have been denied by Canvot’s arm following VAR intervention, and with Cole Palmer missing through injury, Enzo Fernández slotted home the penalty.

Wharton’s second yellow card threatened to turn the contest into a mightily ugly one for Glasner, but his team did rally with ten. Chris Richards’ close-range header was no more than a consolation, though, as Chelsea eased to a 3–1 win.

---

Crystal Palace vs. Chelsea Half-Time Stats

Statistic	Palace	Chelsea
Possession	50%	50%
Expected Goals (xG)	0.69	0.58
Total Shots	4	5
Shots on Target	1	1
Big Chances	2	2
Passing Accuracy	84%	83%
Fouls Committed	5	5
Corners	1	4

---

Crystal Palace vs. Chelsea Full Time Stats

Statistic	Palace	Chelsea
Possession	43%	57%
Expected Goals (xG)	2.12	2.20
Total Shots	13	10
Shots on Target	7	6
Big Chances	5	5
Passing Accuracy	78%	86%
Fouls Committed	11	10
Corners	4	5

---