Chelsea held as title hopes recede

Chelsea’s English Premier League title hopes suffered a blow last night when they could only eke out a goalless draw against Fulham at Craven Cottage.

The two dropped points left the Blues 12 points behind table-toppers Manchester United with only a dozen games to play – but it could have been even worse had Clint Dempsey not missed an injury-time penalty, his kick saved by Petr Cech.

New signing David Luiz fouled the American forward in the area and Dempsey grabbed the ball himself – but his low kick was too close to Cech and the Fulham man then ballooned the rebound over the bar.

Chelsea now have 35 points from 26 games and face a fight to qualify for the Champions League by dint of a top four finish as they are eight points adrift of second-placed Arsenal, four behind third-placed Manchester City and two shy of fourth-placed Tottenham.

Cech told the BBC that the point could equally be seen as one gained rather than two dropped.

“We were chasing the game and went for the winner. In the last few minutes the game was wide open and in the end, after conceding a last-minute penalty, we are happy to have a point.”