Crystal Palace's away game against Chelsea in the first round of the new Premier League season ended in a goalless draw. Defender Chris Richards praised his team's tenacious performance. On the sun-drenched Stamford Bridge pitch, Richards and his fellow defenders kept a near-perfect clean sheet, helping the team kick off the new campaign with a clean sheet.  

Crystal Palace could have had a much better result had Eberechi Eze's brilliant free-kick in the first half not been disallowed by VAR. Despite the disappointment of the disallowed goal, Chris Richards remained optimistic about his team's performance, believing it was a good start to the season.  

After the game, Chris Richards said : " Our overall cooperation was excellent. The performances in the past season, pre-season warm-up matches and even the Club World Cup have shown that Chelsea's offensive end is very threatening. Therefore, we know that as long as we can limit their scoring opportunities, we can create a good result. Although it is only a draw, it is still a game full of gold."  

“This is a good start to the season and I believe we can continue to move forward with the performance in the second half. We made it clear before the game that we must be prepared to face Chelsea’s tough style. The game may not be perfect, but as long as we can keep the goal clean sheet, that is the biggest gain for us.”  

Regarding Eberechi Eze's free kick being disallowed, Chris Richards said after the game that he did not notice any irregularities in the goal while on the field .  

He said : " We are very sorry about this. I think everyone present thought it was a valid goal at the time, but VAR made a different decision. Despite this, the free kick was still very exciting. I hope we can score more similar goals in the future."