Chelsea 0 Manchester City 0: match report
By Chris Hatherill
There was mutiny in the stands at Stamford Bridge even though Chelsea held champions Manchester City to a goalless draw in Rafa Benitez's first match in charge.
It was Chelsea's first clean sheet in 12 games, which in some ways could be seen as progress and certainly will be seen as two points dropped by City in the title race.
But home fans vented their fury at the sacking of Roberto Di Matteo and the controversial appointment of former Liverpool manager Benitez in his place.
The bad feeling began even before the first whistle when the entire ground booed and jeered an announcement to welcome Benitez to the club; and order was only restored by a minute's applause in memory of former Chelsea manager Dave Sexton, who died today.
If Sexton, who won Chelsea their first FA Cup and first European trophy, is one of the most popular managers in Blues history then Benitez already has a claim to go down as one of the most unpopular.
Chelsea fans rose as a man after 16 minutes - 16 was Roberto Di Matteo's shirt number when he was a player at Stamford Bridge - to sing his name and remind owner Roman Abramovich how strongly they disagreed with the Italian's dismissal.
One banner held aloft in the crowd read: "In Di Matteo we trust. In Benitez we will never trust. Fact." And that seemed to sum up the way the majority of Chelsea fans saw it.
Another banner, reading "Benitez out" was visible before the match but disappeared once it began. But there was no hiding the way home fans felt about their new manager.
On the field they had little to cheer, either, in a frustrating first match in which Chelsea attempted to play longer balls up to striker Fernando Torres, but struggled to create chances.
City, by comparison, had three good opportunities to open the scoring but failed to take any of them. And they will be frustrated by the afternoon, too.
David Silva should have scored from an excellent Pablo Zabaleta cross after 20 minutes but somehow headed over the bar from close range. Then full-back Zabaleta, one of City's better performers, burst through following a one-two with Edin Dzeko to force Petr Cech into a fine save with his shins.
City should also have forged ahead in the 42nd minute when Sergio Aguero, of all people, headed straight at Cech from close range when completely unmarked eight yards out.
Chelsea's first opportunity of any kind did not arrive until the second half when Ramires thundered in a shot from long rage; and their only shot on target all match came from Ashley Cole late on.
Yaya Toure forced Cech into another save after 59 minutes; but then Torres, the striker who played so well under Benitez at Liverpool, had a chance to change the atmosphere and earn himself some positive headlines after so many negative ones since his £50m move south.
Unfortunately, however, when the ball ran free to him inside the area he lashed a fierce left-foot shot over the bar. That summed up Chelsea's day and underlines why Benitez has such a tough job ahead of him.
City thought they had a late chance to win the game when substitute Balottelli was clearly blocked by David Luiz on the edge of the area. But astonshingly the City man was booked by referee Chris Foy for diving.
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