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Chelsea survived an absolute onslaught from Schalke 04 in Germany in the Champions League, as they grabbed a 0-0 stalemate to earn themselves a point - a very important one indeed - in Gelsenkirchen.
Avram Grant made two changes from the team which won 2-0 at Wigan, bringing back Joe Cole and Claude Makelele for Shaun Wright-Phillips and John Obi Mikel.
Schalke enjoyed the better of the opening minutes, but Chelsea should have gone ahead six minutes in. Cole played in Didier Drogba, but his left-foot shot from 15 yards was superbly turned away by home keeper Manuel Neuer.
After that the home side began to dominate, with Petr Cech forced to turn away a couple of stinging drives from Heiko Westermann, who was proving a handful rampaging forward from left-back.
After 24 minutes an unmarked Marcelo Bordon somehow headed over from six yards following a corner, with Cech caught out at his near post.
Soon after Cech, who was struggling with an injury, flapped at a corner and was rescued by Juliano Belletti, as he blocked Westermann's close-range effort right on the goal-line.
Shortly before half-time Cole's lunging pass played in Drogba in the inside left, but Neuer stood up strong to block the striker's shot at his near post.
Cech failed to re-appear after the restart and Chelsea continued to struggle, with Rafinha becoming a prominent force down the right for the home side.
Just before the hour Cech's replacement, Carlo Cudicini, made a smart, low save at his near post as Ivan Rakitic tried to catch him out following a corner.
Seventeen minutes from time the Blues were saved by the woodwork for the first time, as Peter Lovenkrands got a ball in from the left and Rafinha's lob back in hit the crossbar, before the follow-up header from Lovenkrands was cleared away from near the line.
Chelsea continued to hold out as time ticked away and grab a lucky result.
Written by majicka
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