Chelsea's nightmarish start of the new Premiership season continued as they were held to a 0-0 draw by relegation-battlers Fulham in new manager Avram Grant's first home game. Fans at Stamford Bridge are yet to reconcile with the sudden and unexpected departure of their favorite Jose Mourinho, but most of them have realized that the road ahead is a tough one for Chelsea.

The draw meant that Chelsea extended their unbeaten home league run to 67 games, but the result will not have pleased owner Roman Abramovich, who was seen applauding from his seat in the directors box. Chelsea were listless for most of the game and their problems were compounded when Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba was sent off late in the second half when he collected his second yellow card of the game.

Furthermore Chelsea captain John Terry suffered a suspected a fractured cheekbone, which may rule him out of the Valencia game in the UEFA Champions League. Terry is also a serious doubt for England’s crucial Euro 2008 qualifiers against Estonia and Russia.

The game started in a brisk fashion though with Salomon Kalou sending in a pass to Andriy Shevchenko who fired over the bar. Claude Makelele set up Andriy Shevchenko in the 19th minute of the game, but the latter was unable to take advantage.

Referee Martin Atkinson booked Drogba late in the first half as he protested vociferously. Brazilian centre-back Alex replaced Terry at the break, but Chelsea looked increasingly ragged as the goals refused to come by.

Joe Cole's cross found Kalou at the edge of the box just after the break, but he was unable to beat Kasey Keller in the Fulham goal. Drogba also tested Keller in the 58th minute from 20 yards out, but was unable to beat him.

Paul Konchesky almost sealed the three points for Fulham, but Petr Cech was on hand to deny him and Chelsea escaped with a draw and were booed off the field by fans.