A quiet first half was notable mainly for how it finished, when Chelsea goalkeeper Teddy Curd conceded but then saved a penalty. It turned out to be a temporary reprieve, though, as shortly after the break Crystal Palace did take the lead, when a corner flew through the bodies and evaded Curd at the near post.

The home side extended their advantage when Justin Devenny headed in from close range, but the Blues weren’t beaten yet. First Deivid Washington pulled one back with a fine goal on the turn before Zak Sturge smashed in an equaliser following a corner with 10 minutes remaining.

Having been two goals down, late pressure meant by the final whistle it was the Blues who ended up closest to taking the win, Jimmy-Jay Morgan twice going close, but we had to settle for a point.

Slow build-up

There was little sign of the action to come throughout the majority of a tight first half. It was pretty even between the two sides and verged on the scrappy at times, with possession changing hands frequently.

Neither keeper was tested much in the opening half-an-hour, although Chelsea had arguably the better of the openings, with the best coming when Dujuan Richards’ pace took him around the outside of the Crystal Palace defence. However, keeper Joe Whitworth did well to save Richards’ effort from a tight angle and claw the loose ball away before Deivid could pounce on the rebound.

It looked like the breakthrough had arrived for the home side at the end of the half, when a Trialist was played in by Devenny and went down under Curd’s challenge when attempting to go round the keeper. Jack Wells-Morrison stepped up to take it for the Eagles and tried to send Curd the wrong way, but our keeper was wise to it and dived low to his right to hold a weak finish.

Curd then had to save well again to turn a dangerous Roshaun Mathurin volley over the bar and the resulting corner flashed across the six-yard box as Palace finished the half strongly.

Blues go behind

The Eagles started the second half strong too, and Billy Gee had to block a dangerous back-post header from close range. From the corner, the home side did go in front, though. Devenny’s delivery evaded several players and arrived low at the near post. Curd got a hand to it but couldn’t adjust quickly enough to stop it creeping in.

Palace went two up on the hour mark. Good running by Mathurin took him to the byline in the box and Devenny met his cross with a powerful header from close range that gave Curd no chance.

Fightback begins

However, Chelsea responded to pull one back almost instantly. Richards had the initial chance but slipped as he shaped to shoot. The ball looped up in the box and Deivid did brilliantly to pluck the ball down out of the air with his back to goal, before arrowing a half-volley into the top corner as he spun.

That was one of Deivid’s last touches before he was replaced by Jimmy-Jay Morgan and the substitute striker nearly made an immediate impact. Played through by Richards on the counter, Morgan opted for power at the near post. It looked destined for the back of the net but Whitworth spread himself well and it was somehow turned behind off the keeper’s face, leaving him in need of lengthy treatment.

Chelsea did find the equaliser with 10 minutes left on the clock, from a Zain Silcott-Duberry corner. Josh Acheampong headed the delivery down into danger and Ishe Samuels-Smith showed good awareness to chest it into the path of Sturge, who smashed a shot through the crowd and into the back of the net.

The momentum had shifted fully in Chelsea’s direction and final minutes saw the Palace box under pressure. Morgan headed just wide from Dylan Williams’ deep set-piece delivery, and had another half-chance as he got a toe on Silcott-Duberry’s cross, but it was a difficult opportunity under pressure from a tight angle and he couldn’t direct it on target, so the match ended in a draw.

What it means

The Blues remain fourth in the Premier League 2 table, two points behind third-placed Fulham with one fixture remaining, but are already assured of a place in the end-of-season play-offs.

What is next

Chelsea Under-21s now switch attention to the Premier League Cup, where we face Fulham in the semi-finals at Kingsmeadow on Friday 19 April, with kick-off at 7pm.

The teams

Chelsea (3-4-1-2): Teddy Curd; Richard Olise (Josh Acheampong 61), Billy Gee (c) (Ishe Samuels-Smith 72), Dylan Williams; Zain Silcott-Duberry, Jimi Tauriainen (Tyrique George 61), Kiano Dyer, Zak Sturge; Michael Golding; Dujuan Richards, Deivid Washington (Jimmy-Jay Morgan 69)
Unused sub: Max Merrick
Scorers: Deivid 65, Sturge 80

Crystal Palace (3-4-1-2): Joe Whitworth (c); Noah Watson, Craig Farquhar, Mofe Jemide (Dylan Reid 61); Danny Imray, Kaden Rodney, Jack Wells-Morrison (Chris Francis 61), Vonnte Williams (Trialist h-t); Justin Devenny; Roshaun Mathurin (Joseph Gibbard 88), Trialist
Unused sub: Sebastian Williams
Scorers: Curd og 47, Devenny 60
Booked: Devenny 56, Imray 86