Chelsea failed to reduce the gap with Premiership leaders Manchester United after they were held to a dull 0-0 stalemate at Newcastle to keep the Red Devils in charge of the table with a 3-point advantage. The Blues are on 79 points in 2nd place, three adrift of United who drew at home with Middlesbrough on Saturday, Newcastle are 12th on 42 points. Newcastle produced a cagey performance to deny Jose Mourinho's men the three points in a contest that could be described as a poor display. Mourinho opted to keep record signing Andriy Shevchenko on the bench and field an all-Ivorian frontline with Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou.
Mourinho Chelsea struggled to find their form as their top goal scorer Drogba was subject to very tight marking by Magpies defender Stephen Taylor. The Blues also suffered a first-half blow when German midfielder Michael Ballack was substituted by John Obi Mikel after just 17 minutes due to an injury. The hosts kept their bold resistance in defense until the 90th minute despite being in need of a win that could move them to 11th place. Joe Cole came close to scoring a dramatic winner in the last minute of injury time but his slight touch elapsed beside the far post.
