Match Report: Norwich 0 – Chelsea 0
We stuttered once again, drawing 0-0 with a dogged and well organized Norwich City side.
Daniel Sturridge returned to complement Fernando Torres in an attacking set up with Juan Mata. There was no debut for Gary Cahill as he watched from the stands.
We monopolized possession in the opening minutes but it was Norwich who forged a great chance as Morison combined with Holt in front of Petr Cech’s goal but luckily for us his attempt went just past the post.
Torres was looking lively making his usual runs into good positions and poked an effort low towards the corner, with John Ruddy intervening to turn it behind.
As the first half drew on Frank Lampard dropped to the floor clutching his calf, an injury that brought his afternoon to a premature end. The change saw the introduction of Florent Malouda, who immediately threaded Mata through in the Norwich area before Ruddy denied him
Mata then should have given us the lead when he picked up the ball following Russell Martin giving away possession and made a great run into the Norwich area but his shot blasted over.
Anthony Pilkington then rushed back to steal the ball from Sturridge after Torres produced a burst of pace down the right to cross into the middle, ensuring that it remained goalless at the break.
Around the hour mark Torres got hold of the ball in a crowded area, but was agonizingly wayward once again tapping his shot a hair’s breadth past the post when it would have been easier to score.
We continued to pile on the pressure with Mata bursting down the left to force a great save from John Ruddy dropping low to his right to deflect the effort.
Andre Villas Boas made a change with Romelu Lukaku replaced Fernando Torres but it was Mata again who proved the main threat. Picking the ball up in the center of the area from the right-hand side he aimed for the bottom corner but once again Ruddy was there to drop low and tip it onto the post.
We kept pushing with shots from Ashley Cole and Malouda coming to nothing, Ruddy again key in stopping the latter, but could not find a way through as Norwich recorded their first clean sheet of the season.
Gill Reeves – CSG disabled rep
Norwich
• 01 Ruddy
• 02 R Martin
• 06 Whitbread
• 25 Naughton
• 26 Ayala
• 04 Johnson
• 11 Surman (Bennett 90)
• 12 Pilkington
• 15 Fox (Crofts 79)
• 05 Morison (Jackson 79)
• 09 Holt
Substitutes
• 31 Steer,
• 03 Drury,
• 07 Crofts,
• 14 Hoolahan,
• 17 Bennett,
• 10 Jackson,
• 21 Wilbraham
Chelsea
• 01 Cech
• 03 Cole
• 04 David Luiz
• 17 Bosingwa
• 26 Terry
• 07 Ramires
• 08 Lampard (Malouda 37)
• 16 Meireles (Essien 79)
• 09 Torres (Lukaku 77)
• 10 Mata
• 23 Sturridge
Substitutes
• 22 Turnbull,
• 02 Ivanovic,
• 34 Bertrand,
• 05 Essien,
• 06 Romeu,
• 15 Malouda,
• 18 Lukaku
Ref: Clattenburg
Att: 26,792