11/12/2007  Chelsea 0 Valencia 0
 
Chelsea warmed up for Sunday's crucial Premier League showdown with Arsenal by toiling to a laboured draw against Valencia.

The Blues had already qualified for the Champions League knockout stages as Group B winners, regardless of the result at Stamford Bridge, and for long spells they looked like a team with nothing to play for.

Avram Grant had acknowledged the group finale against Valencia was little more than a distraction with the Arsenal clash looming and his side were reading from the same script.

Aside from a bright opening and a productive final half hour that coincided with Joe Cole's arrival from the bench, they looked in second gear.

For their part Valencia seemed equally disinterested with the feint hope of securing a place in the UEFA Cup providing little inspiration.

The Spanish club started with reported Chelsea target David Villa and Fernando Morientes up front but the celebrated duo rarely threatened.

Grant was expected to rest key players such as Frank Lampard and John Terry but only made six changes, among them recalling Petr Cech who had recovered a calf injury.

Peru striker Claudio Pizarro started and probably played his way out of contention for a place against Arsenal after proving the most wasteful of Chelsea's players.

Salomon Kalou and Cole both struck the woodwork in a dominant last 30 minutes, but sloppy finishing and the heroics of Valencia goalkeeper Santiago Canizares also contributed to the stalemate.

After his headline act against Sunderland, normal service resumed for Andriy Shevchenko who produced an ineffective display until his half-time substitution.

Shevchenko starred in Saturday's victory over Roy Keane's side but he was off the pace against the Spanish side, squandering Chelsea's best chance in the opening exchanges.

Shaun Wright-Phillips and Frank Lampard had combined brilliantly to set him up but his stabbed shot did not have sufficient power to trouble Canizares.

A Terry corner flashed wide of the right-hand post and the Blues maintained the pressure with Wright-Phillips wreaking havoc down the right.

Valencia left-back Emiliano Moretti was having trouble containing the England winger as he repeatedly dashed into the box looking for Shevchenko and Pizarro.

A poor first touch from Stephen Sunny then let Chelsea off the hook, however, and they were also thankful David Silva could not produce the killer pass his darting run into the box deserved.

Canizares came charging out of his box as Kalou raced onto a long ball, leaving him stranded, but the Ivorian blasted his cross into the stands.

Sloppy defending from Tal Ben Haim gave Fernando Morientes a sniff but his first touch was poor and Chelsea's defence recovered, hustling Villa off the ball.

Only Canizares' outstretched right hand prevented a magnificent shot by Lampard from finding the top corner in the 28th minute as the Blues continued in the driving seat.

Shevchenko obstructed a Wright-Phillips shot after Lampard had failed to react to a fine chance.

The match desperately needed a goal and it nearly came in the 42nd minute when Villa and Silva combined with deadly effect, only for Cech to block the Spain striker's effort from close range.

Sparked by Valencia's burst, Chelsea responded by launching waves of attacks and Canizares was needed to deny Lampard, Shevchenko and Pizarro.

The chances of the game getting the spark it needed shortened when Shevchenko was replaced by Claude Makelele for the second half.

Shevchenko had been disappointing but the appearance of the defensive midfielder was hardly going to breathe fresh life into the contest

To make matters worse, Villa limped off and long spells of silence from the 41,139 crowd at Stamford Bridge told its own story.

Wright-Phillips sent Pizarro through but the Peru forward scuffed his shot just as the flag went up.

Cole replaced Lampard in the 62nd minute but it was Pizarro and Kalou who split open the Valencia rearguard seconds later with a threaded pass doing the damage.

Kalou stabbed the ball into the net but the flag had gone up and Chelsea's frustration intensified when Pizarro directed a great chance straight into the arms of Canizares.

Worse was still to come, however, with Kalou missing a near open goal by directing the ball at the crossbar when it would have been easier to score.

Lightning reactions from Canizares came to Valencia's rescue in the 77th minute when Pizarro tested him to the full.

The Spaniard then had to do the same with Cole's piledriver, which he tipped onto the right post before heading Sunny's unkind backpass to safety.