Stoke City 0-0 Chelsea - No Goals As Villas-Boas Gets Early Blues

Chelsea failed to win their opening day fixture for the first time in nine years as new manager André Villas-Boas was unsuccessful in inspiring a convincing performance in his ageing squad, despite quite a few good chances. There were positives for both managers however, Chelsea fans will be heartened with the performance of Fernando Torres who was tireless throughout and looked dangerous at all times. Stoke manager Tony Pulis too can be happy with a good point for his hard-working side against difficult opposition. Ultimately, it was The Potters€™ physical style of play that foiled Chelsea whose passing game although evident in places was ultimately stifled. The new Chelsea manager, just 33-years-old and once protégé to José Mourinho, chose a 4-3-3 formation familiar to his compatriot and former boss for his team€™s visit to Stoke. The Britannia, officially the loudest stadium in the Premier League, is notorious for being a difficult place to travel, and a great weight was put upon £50 million man Fernando Torres, who led the attack despite having scored just one competitive goal for the Blues. Dider Drogba, whose physical prowess seemed well suited for the game could only secure a place on the bench. New signing Jonathan Woodgate started in the heart of defence for Tony Pulis, who fielded a straight 4-4-2 hoping to halt the attacking force of Chelsea by starting four across the middle with orders to put in plenty of running. Jermaine Pennant started on the right wing faced a difficult challenge against former Arsenal teammate Ashley Cole with the task of providing Kenwyne Jones with aerial surface along with Matthew Etherington who started on the left. Stoke took the game to Chelsea in the early stages, welcoming Villas-Boas to the Britannia with a trademark long throw from Rory Delap which was just about dealt with by Petr Cech before The Potters won a corner that came to nothing. Torres started the game in a lively fashion, skinning two players to put in a cross first before being hacked down by Ryan Shawcross, leading to the first yellow card of the game from Mark Halsey. Torres, no doubt stung by the widespread criticism of his performances last season also fired a low cross wide from a way outside the area. Delap€™s throws continued to cause the Blues problems with three more that looped into the area before eventually being cleared, but Cech€™s indecision no doubt boded poorly for the Chelsea fans and staff alike. A free kick swung in by Etherington after Kenwyne Jones was obstructed by John Terry was also fumbled by Cech before he managed to smother it. Chelsea were failing to get together any attacks in the first quarter, with Stoke€™s work ethic and long ball football getting the better of them. It wasn€™t until the 23rd minute that Torres put in a teasing cross that was well cleared by the head of former Blues man Robert Huth.Despite neither side sitting back and defending, there were precious little efforts on goal with only one shot on target from Chelsea within the first half hour, and for all their goalmouth action Stoke had failed to test Petr Cech€™s shot-stopping ability. John Terry looked to have handled the ball five minutes before the interval but Jonathan Walters€™ animated appeals fell on deaf ears. The last chance of the half fell for Chelsea, after Fernando Torres€™ winding run within the Stoke 18-yard-box was followed by a weak shot that rolled harmlessly past the left post. Chelsea€™s creativity was nowhere to be seen in the first half with Solomon Kalou, Ramires and Florent Malouda putting in virtually unnoticeable performances. The sheer energy and determination of Torres had created a few chances, but the Potters undoubtedly went in at half time in higher spirits. The same 22 players took to the field for the second half and Stoke were the more positive again, winning a corner within the first minute which ended up behind Cech€™s goal. Chelsea had penalty claim of their own when Torres was brought down by Ryan Shawcross. There was contact although whether it was in the area was debatable, Halsey waved play on regardless. Torres was involved yet again moments later when he directed a Frank Lampard corner goal bound but the ball was easily caught by giant goalkeeper Asmir Begovic. The game suddenly exploded into life ten minutes into the second half. The best chance of the opening hour fell unsurprisingly to Fernando Torres, who found himself with the ball at his feet on the edge of the six yard box but couldn€™t make anything happen and was eventually forced off the ball by a crowd of red and white shirts. This was followed by a strong penalty claim from Chelsea, as Frank Lampard was clearly tripped by Marc Wilson, but again Halsey saw nothing wrong. John Obi Mikel, still searching for his first Premier League goal in a Chelsea shirt forced a tremendous save from the Bosnian keeper moments later, with a sweetly caught volley from just outside the area. An injury to Matthew Etherington sustained during an aerial challenge from Solomon Kalou required treatment on what appeared to be a dislocated shoulder. He was replaced by Dean Whitehead, the break in play allowing Stoke to get their breath back. Chelsea were pouring on the pressure but were forced to shoot from range due to the tenacity of a well drilled Stoke side. A good strike from Malouda was well held by Begovic before the Frenchman was replaced by another in the form of Nicolas Anelka. The battle between Ashley Cole and Pennant raged on, with Cole receiving a booking for a challenge on the latter before putting in a good block to deny him from opening the scoring. Petr Cech, who had been untroubled throughout the second half looked shaky when called upon and fumbled again at a cross which was eventually cleared by Alex. There was more cause for concern for Tony Pulis as an injury to experienced midfielder and long-throw specialist Rory Delap forced him to be replaced by one time Manchester United player Danny Pugh. Chelsea created two more chances as they flexed their attacking muscles. Anelka forced a spectacular save from Begovic, leaping across to turn the curling effort onto the bar. Kalou then failed to score from a header deep inside the area, which was held again by the capable Bosnian. Didier Drogba was finally let of the leash on the 75th minute, replacing Solomon Kalou, but the ensuing free kick was met instead by Alex, again though Begovic was equal to it. The impressive keeper pulled off an impressive save to deny Torres shortly afterwards, but the linesman€™s flag was up anyway. Drogba€™s first contribution to the game came a few minutes later when his well struck free-kick was straight down the throat of Begovic. Pulis brought an end to a quiet performance from Kenwyne Jones and signalled his intentions to see out the remainder of the game by replacing him with defender Ryan Shotton although the 22-year-old has been known to operate as a striker as well. There were five minutes of additional time, although the life of the match had long since vanished, and the game finished goalless. Stoke (4-4-2) Begovic, Huth, Shawcross, Woodgate, Wilson, Pennant, Whelan, Delap (Pugh, 70), Etherington (Whitehead, 61), Jones (Shotton, 86), Walters Chelsea: (4-3-3) Cech, Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, Cole. Ramires, Mikel, Lampard, Kalou (Drogba, 75), Torres (Benayoun, 89), Malouda (Anelka, 64)