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line-up, was booed by home fans before kick-off. City had the best openings in a tight game, with David Silva heading over and Petr Cech denying Pablo Zabaleta. Torres toiled as Chelsea struggled to create chances but he still had their best effort when he fired just over.
Meanwhile, Jermain Defoe scored twice as Tottenham ended a three-game losing streak with a deserved victory over West Ham. Gareth Bale hit the bar before Defoe opened the scoring with a superb run from the right and crunching finish. After rattling the bar himself, Clint Dempsey found Bale in the box and he beat Jussi Jaaskelainen via a post.
Aaron Lennon broke free and squared for Defoe to seal the points, although Andy Carroll’s header ended the Liverpool loanee’s 15-game wait for a goal. Unfortunately for Carroll and West Ham, who came close to further reducing the deficit late on, the effort was a mere consolation.
It means Tottenham climb above the Hammers into seventh, with Sam Allardyce’s men still awaiting their first away win this season.
Spurs will be delighted end a run of four straight domestic defeats and collect only their third win in 10 matches in all competitions.
At the Liberty Stadium, Brendan Rodgers was frustrated as his Liverpool side were held to a draw by Swansea City in the Premier League. Liverpool had Jose Enrique’s close-range effort ruled out for offside, and Raheem Sterling hit the crossbar with a volley.
Swansea’s best chance fell to Ashley Williams who saw a powerful header cleared off the line by Joe Allen. The result lifts Swansea to eighth in the table with Liverpool 11th.
It was Liverpool’s eighth successive game without defeat in the Premier League, while Swansea have lost just once in their last seven league outings.
The match also saw Swansea keep a clean sheet for the first time in 11 league matches.
Liverpool manager Rodgers was met with a mixture of applause and a few boos when he emerged from the tunnel in Swansea for the first time since leaving the Swans for Anfield in May. His last match in charge of Swansea had been against Liverpool at the end of last season.
But the pre-match controversy surrounding Williams’ comments about Luis Suarez in his autobiography appeared to be forgotten as the players smiled and shook hands before kick-off. — BBC Sport.
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