Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw away at Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon as the Blues' winless run in the Premier League extended to four matches.

Enzo Maresca's team ended 2024 with back-to-back defeats against Fulham and Ipswich Town and were unable to return to winning ways. For the majority of the game, it looked as if the win would be Chelsea's with Cole Palmer scoring the opening goal of the game after just 14 minutes.

Some exceptional solo work from Jadon Sancho down the left-hand side saw Chris Richards left for dead. Sancho then laid the ball back to Palmer and after Chelsea's No.20 found the bottom corner, the two - rather fittingly given the freezing conditions - hit the latter's cold celebration at Selhurst Park.

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Scrolling through social media during the game, plenty of supporters were adamant Chelsea needed a second goal in south London. After what happened on Boxing Day, where Palmer scored early on against Fulham, only for the visitors to turn the game around late on all claim all three points at Stamford Bridge, there was a concern the same could happen against a dangerous Crystal Palace team.

With the likes of Eberechi Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta in attack, the Eagles always had a chance if there was only a one-goal cushion in Chelsea's favour. With 15 shots - and only one of them being on target - there was a lack of ruthlessness from the Blues and that ended up costing them.

It was Palmer, surprisingly, who gifted back possession to Palace on 82 minutes and the hosts put together a three-pass move to carve through the Chelsea defence. Unsurprisingly, it was Eze who laid the ball off to Mateta, who had the easiest of jobs to level the match.

Positives? It is difficult to find too many given how disappointed Chelsea supporters are right now. In the space of a few weeks, the Blues have gone from title challengers - albeit with a very faint hope of challenging Liverpool, with Maresca even saying as much - to battling it out for a space in next season's UEFA Champions League.

Newcastle United, who are probably the most in-form team in the division right now, are now only one point behind Chelsea after beating Tottenham in the early kick-off on Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, Manchester City have suddenly won back-to-back games and the general consensus is that the champions will come on strong after a crisis period over the last couple of months.

City are now within two points of Chelsea, while the likes of Bournemouth threaten to challenge for a surprise top-four finish. Maresca is not too focused on what the table is looking like at the moment, though; he is more concerned about how to improve his side's performance levels that have undoubtedly dropped in the last few games despite a number of missed opportunities in front of goal.

"Two of three weeks ago, we were talking about the title race," Maresca said after the game at Selhurst Park. "I never thought [about the title race]. We knew that Newcastle, Aston Villa and Manchester City would be there, so for me, it's not about the table, it's about how we can improve things."

Sancho's performance was certainly a positive. Influential in the first goal, Sancho would probably be seven out of 10 on the ratings board anyway, but his work-rate off the ball just added to a really strong performance from the winger.

There were numerous times, particularly in the second-half, where his Chelsea team were under pressure and Sancho took it upon himself to go and help Marc Cucurella, who was quite often targeted by Palace, out in the left-back slot. We all know what Sancho can give you in attacking areas - although this performance should be the start of something special for the on-loan winger.

Too often we see Sancho drift in and out of matches and that means his time at Stamford Bridge thus far has been only 'good'. It really could be 'great'. He somehow needs to find some consistency, and that includes adding more goals to his game.

The same can be said about Pedro Neto. The Portugal international was a constant threat down the right-hand side in the opening 45 minutes. However, as the match went on, and Neto began to tire, his performance levels deteriorated.

While there was certainly an improvement from the two wide men on Saturday, you can't help but feel as if Chelsea need more from Sancho and Neto. Nicolas Jackson, too; who despite already being on nine goals in the Premier League this season, is beginning to show the striker we saw for large parts of last term.

Jackson enjoyed an impressive debut campaign in England last time out but it was largely overshadowed by some golden opportunities being missed. There were a couple of clear-cut chances against Palace where Jackson simply has to do better.

The one in the first-half, after being fed by Palmer, he does all of the hard work but failed to find the target. Jackson turned Maxence Lacroix inside and out before trying to place the ball into the bottom corner with the outside of his right foot. It is not an easy, easy chance, but it is one Jackson needs to bury - especially now with the benefit of hindsight.

The one in the second-half is a much more difficult chance in terms of finding the back of the net but it was his decision-making that let him down in the end. Neto was free at the back post - and you have to assume he was shouting for the pass to be made - but Jackson instead tried beating Dean Henderson with his weaker left foot and dragged the ball well wide in the end.

Neto, understandably, was left incensed with his teammate's decision to shoot. That moment; the lack of ruthlessness, poor decision-making, well that essentially summed up what was another missed opportunity for Chelsea.