Chelsea draw another blank

Chelsea 0 Blackburn 0: Chelsea were forced to settle for a point against Blackburn after a second half 'goal' was controversially ruled out by referee Howard Webb.

Chelsea looked to have sealed all three points when Salomon Kalou converted a cross from Julian Belletti but Webb disallowed the goal for offside.

Chelsea had squandered a host of first-half chances but Blackburn could have stolen the points themselves if Petr Cech had not tipped Robbie Savage's late effort over the crossbar.

But Blackburn's point was overshadowed by a serious head injury to defender Christopher Samba.

Chelsea were bidding to take their unbeaten home run in the top flight to 66 games but without the driving force of the injured Frank Lampard in midfield and the strength of Didier Drogba in attack, the Blues struggled to gain control of the game.

Drogba's absence was underlined in the 22nd minute when Juliano Belletti broke free down the right flank. But his perfectly flighted cross was headed over the bar by the unmarked Andriy Shevchenko — making his first start of the season in Mourinho's side.

It was a poor effort from the Ukrainian striker who should have at least hit the target from eight yards.

In the 27th minute Chelsea were prevented from taking the lead by a superb acrobatic save from Friedel. Joe Cole's mazy run ended with his attempted pass to Salomon Kalou falling at the feet of Michael Essien on the edge of the penalty area.

The Ghanaian midfielder sent a powerful half-volley towards the top corner only to see the American 'keeper fly to his left to tip the ball over the crossbar.

Shaun Wright-Phillips was the next Chelsea player to try his luck but he too failed to find the target with a 20-yard low drive.

A sign of Mourinho's displeasure with his team's failure to break down Rovers, saw him make a double substitution in the 54th minute — Florent Malouda replacing Wright-Phillips and Mikel John Obi taking over from Steve Sidwell.

The change almost brought instant results when Belletti's cross was turned in by Kalou but was controversially ruled out by referee Howard Webb for offside. The decision sparked uproar on the bench with Mourinho and assistant Steve Clarke berating the fourth official Peter Walton and remonstrating with him to look at the touchline TV screen.

It ended with Webb having to ask Mourinho to calm down but TV replays suggested the Chelsea manager had a good case for the goal looked to be perfectly legal.

The controversial moment brought the game to life with Chelsea fans making clear their dislike of Webb's decision with constant abuse and barracking.

Savage took advantage of some sloppy Chelsea defending to force Cech into a fine one-handed save in the 76th minute but moments later Kalou sent a shot inches wide of the target at the opposite end.

Then six minutes from time a Shevchenko header from a cross by Malouda was brilliantly saved by Friedel. However, the Ukrainian striker's boot met the head of Samba as he tried to control the rebound and the Rovers player was stretchered off with a serious injury.

Shevchenko's effort was to be Chelsea's last real effort of the game as stubborn Rovers held on for a point.