Birmingham frustrated Premier League leaders Chelsea by holding them to a 0-0 draw. This was the first time in 34 games that Chelsea failed to score.The visitors though created enough chances to win the game, but didn’t finish them properly – handing rivals Manchester United and Arsenal a chance to recover ground when they play on Sunday. The visitors carved out nearly all of the game’s best chances but found Birmingham keeper Joe Hart in inspired form while defender Alex rattled the crossbar with a free kick.

Birmingham boss Alex McLeish said “Chelsea always had a goal threat but the concentration of our players was fantastic,” “To go 10 games unbeaten is a phenomenal achievement, these guys have the winning attitude and their intensity is terrific.”

Chelsea has won only once in their last seven games. Manager Carlo Ancelotti is concerned that their poor form could continue for a while yet with the likes of Drogba and Salomon Kalou heading to the Africa Cup of Nations. “We played a good match, we had a lot of chances – there were some very good saves by their goalkeeper Joe Hart, who played very well. “Normally when you have five, six, seven chances in a game, you score. “I think we lost some confidence in our play and we are a little bit tired. But we are still top of the table and we have to think about the next game” said the Italian Manager of Chelsea.

On the other hand Birmingham have continued their unbeaten form to 10 matches thanks to more resolute defending and their eighth clean sheet of the season.

Also in the English Premier League, West Ham came out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 win over bottom club Portsmouth while Fulham and fifth-place Tottenham Hotspur played out a 0-0 draw in London. Whereas Roberto Mancini won his first game in charge of Manchester City as Martin Petrov and Carlos Tevez scored to beat Stoke 2-0.

[Source:AlJazeera,BBC]