toptop

Chelsea played out an uneventful goalless draw in Athens to take up pole position in their UEFA Champions League tie with Olympiakos.

Chances were few and far between for both sides with Salomon Kalou squandering the best chance with virtually the last kick of the game as he mis-controlled with the goal gaping.

With Frank Lampard, John Terry and Nicolas Anelka all on the bench, Avram Grant may have been forgiven for sacrificing the first leg by resting some of his stars ahead of their Carling Cup final with Tottenham on Sunday.

The gamble nearly back-fired however, as Luciano Galletti volleyed wide in the second half and Ieroklis Stoltidis' header was inches away from the corner in the first.

It took Chelsea just 31 seconds to have the first shot on goal but unfortunately Michael Essien's effort was well wide.

Chelsea were lucky to escape in the seventh minute when Stoltidis tried to find Darko Kovacevic only for Ricardo Carvalho to react quickest and cut out what would have been a goalscoring opportunity for the Olympiakos forward.

In the 13th minute Anastasios Pantos got the better of Joe Cole on the left flank only for his shot to deflect off Kovacevic and out for a goal-kick to Chelsea.

Unsettled

Florent Malouda tested home goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis in the 15th minute with a right-foot volley from the edge of the penalty area which the veteran shot-stopper did well to collect at the first attempt.

Olympiakos almost opened the scoring in the 28th minute when Vassilis Torosidis just failed to connect with a flick-on from Stoltidis.

The Greek side were clearly capable of unsettling the visiting defence but for most of the half, it was Chelsea who dominated possession.

The Greek champions were far from fluid in going forward and this allowed the English side to deal comfortably with their sporadic attacks.

Chelsea defender Alex was shown the yellow card in the 35th minute for a needless foul on Cristian Ledesma.

The English side were being forced to defend in numbers for the first time in the game now but the home side continued to show little invention in attack.

Too many aimless long balls were collected with ease by the Chelsea defence who, like their hosts, were unable to make the most of their possession.

Wasted

It was a measure of their frustration that a shot from Claude Makelele was way off-target when the France veteran, and captain on the night, tried his luck from 35 yards.

Chelsea wasted another chance when a free-kick from Juliano Belletti was headed well wide by the unmarked Michael Ballack.

Grant resisted the opportunity to change his side during the interval but his team failed to raise their game at the start of the second half.

In the 56th minute Belletti was booked for a rash challenge on Stoltidis and Petr Cech had to be at his best to keep out a 25-yard drive from Predrag Djordjevic.

There was little to enthuse about as both sides struggled to find any fluidity during a game that rarely threatened to entertain.

It was far from the best advert for free-flowing football and Chelsea seemed quite content to pass the ball around without purpose until they lost possession.

Chance

Olympiakos would have benefited from an injection of pace in attack but the tall frame of Kovacevic was not the man to supply it.

One the rare occasions they found some pace it was from the combination of Stoltidis and Djordjevic.

They combined superbly in the 65th minute to set up a real chance for Galletti but the Olympiakos midfielder sent his right-foot volley over the crossbar from ten yards.

Chelsea were devoid of ideas and their lack of initiative in the final third was summed up by an aimless ball from Makelele in the 68th minute that caught both Drogba and Ballack offside.

Chelsea sent on Anelka, Lampard and Kalou in the closing stages in a bid to find a goal from somewhere, and the Ivorian should have provided it in the last minute.

Ashley Cole's cross found its way all the way through to Kalou but the Chelsea striker failed to take the ball in his stride and the chance for an elusive away goal was spurned.

Teams

Olympiakos  Nikopolidis, Zewlakow, Pantos, Cesar, Antzas, Torosidis, Galletti (Leonardo 83), Stoltidis, Djordjevic (Belluschi 76), Ledesma, Kovacevic (Nunez 87)
Subs Not Used Patsatzoglou, Sisic, Sifakis, Mitroglou
Booked Belluschi
Goals

Chelsea  Cech, Belletti, A. Cole, Carvalho, Alex, J. Cole (Anelka 75), Essien, Malouda (Kalou 75), Makelele, Ballack (Lampard 86), Drogba
Subs Not Used  Cudicini, Wright-Phillips, Terry, Mikel
Booked  Alex, Belletti, Makelele, A. Cole
Goals 

Attendance 29,500

Referee Konrad Plautz (Austria)