14/10/2003  Birmingham 0 Chelsea 0
 
Chelsea secured the point needed to replace Arsenal at the top of the Barclaycard Premiership, but were frustrated by a battling Birmingham performance at St. Andrews.

Steve Bruce's men matched their big-spending opponents for much of a first half of few clear-cut openings, but Chelsea took charge in terms of possession in the final 45 minutes.

Birmingham were forced to defend desperately at times to protect their unbeaten home record as wave after wave of attacks were thrown at them by Claudio Ranieri's men.

An indication of Chelsea's eventual dominance was that they forced 17 corners during the 90 minutes.

But Birmingham's defence has been their main strength in their fine start to this campaign - just five goals conceded in seven games - and Chelsea were limited in terms of decent openings.

The best two opportunities fell to Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, one in each half, but Bruce's troops somehow clung on to secure a point which moves them above Fulham into fourth spot.

Chelsea had to make a last-minute change to their line-up with centre-back William Gallas collecting a knock during the warm-up and being replaced by Robert Huth.

David Dunn operated as the second striker for the home side behind Christophe Dugarry as Steve Bruce opted for a 4-4-1-1 formation.

Chelsea were given little time and space in the early stages, but they came close to taking the lead on seven minutes with the best chance of the opening half.

Wayne Bridge made a surging run into the Birmingham penalty area before his low centre picked out Hasselbaink.

A goal initially looked inevitable until Jamie Clapham threw himself at the Dutchman and managed to block the shot at the expense of a corner.

Dugarry is slowly making his way back to full sharpness after his knee operation, and the Frenchman tested Carlo Cudicini with a low drive from 20 yards out after jinking his way into a threatening position.

John Terry, one of England's heroes in Turkey, became the first player to be cautioned after 16 minutes when he took out Stan Lazaridis with a late touch-line challenge.

Aliou Cisse - still on the transfer list after reporting back late for pre-season training - was winning some solid challenges in the centre of the park.

But the Senegal captain was over ambitious when pouncing onto a loose clearance from Terry, and his attempt from 30 yards out was saved easily by Cudicini.

Hernan Crespo threatened for the first time when he took a pass from Frank Lampard over his shoulder and connected with the volley sweetly enough, but it flew straight at Maik Taylor in the Birmingham goal.

Olivier Tebily then made a crucial interception to take the ball away from Crespo at full stretch after he had found space at the far post.

Chelsea started to take control in the 10 minutes before the interval and in injury-time, Crespo forced Taylor to deflect his low effort around the post.

The pattern continued after the break as the Londoners forced a string of corners and Dugarry's frustration at a lack of possession earned him a booking for a challenge on Terry after 56 minutes.

Huth suffered the same fate after a late tackle on Birmingham midfielder Damien Johnson, but Chelsea were now well in control.

Hasselbaink had a good opportunity teed up for him by Crespo, but Taylor managed to deflect his cross-shot inches past the far post.

Ranieri opted for his first substitution after 65 minutes, bringing on Damien Duff for the ineffective Joe Cole.

Glen Johnson - sent off when in action for the Under-21s in Turkey on Friday - became the third Chelsea player to be cautioned - for handball after 67 minutes.

Eidur Gudjohnsen replaced Hasselbaink in a last throw of the dice for Chelsea, but the nearest they came to snatching the three points was when Taylor tipped over a rising Frank Lampard drive.