Team Sheet

Team news

New signing Cahill was not a part of Chelsea’s 18-man squad, and so Luiz and Bosingwa formed the right side of the defence, the only change from last weekend’s starting 11 at Sunderland being Sturridge’s return in place of Romeu, with Ramires dropping back from the right wing into central midfield.

Meireles would play the holding role in midfield with Lampard, scorer of the winner in each of our last three games, completing the trio. Torres was the central striker.

Other good news was the return from injury of Ivanovic to the subs’ bench, alongside Essien who completed his first minutes of the season last weekend.

Norwich recalled captain Holt in place of Simeon Jackson, the striker joining Steve Morison up front with David Fox replacing Wes Hoolahan to give steel to the midfield.

Action

The winning streak that started 2012 is over after a well-contested but ultimately disappointing trip to Carrow Road.

Despite creating the better opportunities over the 90 minutes, the Blues could not beat a dogged and organised Norwich side that earned its first clean sheet of the season.

Both sides had first-half opportunities, Norwich offering more of a threat early on with their direct play troubling Chelsea and bringing Cech into the action to save from Pilkington and Johnson while Torres and Mata were keeping Norwich’s  Ruddy busy.

In the second period Chelsea dominated for spells and had chances to win it, the best falling to Torres inside the box, but the striker missed the target when he should have found the corner. A late smattering of half-chances caused plenty of trouble inside the Canaries box, but the killer goal could not be found.

To deepen the frustration on a cold Norfolk afternoon, Lampard limped off in the first half with a calf problem, making him a doubt for next weekend’s FA Cup game at QPR. The injury is not thought to be serious but will need scanning before time out can be predicted.

AVB highlighted shortcomings he has spoken about before when his team has fallen short this season.

Chelsea couldn’t put the pressure we wished on the teams above us as only one point was taken against the Canaries who kept a clean sheet for the first time this season. It was our first 0-0 draw in the league since the opening day at Stoke.

Again it was a lack of ruthless in front of the target that the manager spoke about as recording four wins in a row continues to prove elusive.

Final Score

Graphics courtesy of Chelsea FC with thanks.