Chelsea had to settle for a 0-0 draw with Dynamo Kiev in their Champions League Group G clash in Ukraine this evening.
The Blues knew that a win would move them into second, and they came out firing in the early stages as Cesc Fabregas saw a long-range effort saved.
Jose Mourinho's side continued to press, and they came within inches of opening the scoring when Eden Hazard collected a loose ball and shifted away from a defender to curl in a low effort which was tipped onto the post well by Oleksandr Shovkovskiy.
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Fabregas headed over as a Chelsea breakthrough looked more and more likely, but the hosts gave their opponents a first warning sign when Andriy Yarmolenko started a move which ended in Vitaliy Buyalskyi shooting straight at Asmir Begovic.
The Blues remained dominant, however, and after they thought that they should have had a penalty for a challenge on Fabregas, Nemanja Matic could not cap a fine run with a goal when he stabbed his finish wide of the post.
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For all their attacking possession, Chelsea were struggling to create clear chances and a period of good pressure which led to consecutive corners yielded only a half-chance as Shovkovskiy made a routine save from Gary Cahill's header.
They nearly took the lead within a minute of the restart when they hit the woodwork for a second time, as Willian dusted himself off after being brought down on the edge of the box to whip a fine free kick over the wall and off the underside of the crossbar.
Only a good piece of last-ditch defending from Serhiy Rybalka denied Hazard after the Belgian was found by Willian in the box as Chelsea pressed, but Begovic was called into action again after Yarmolenko led a fast break and Derlis Gonzalez tried to beat the Bosnian at his near post.
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The hosts threatened again as the clock ticked over into the final 20 minutes when Gonzalez found Domagoj Vida in the box, but the defender could only smash the ball high over the crossbar from a dangerous position.
Chelsea appeared happy to settle for a draw as Kiev pressed for a winner late on, and they held on to secure a 0-0 draw which keeps Mourinho's side in third in Group G.
Tom Nightingale
