Chelsea 0 Man City 0: Manchester City are a bunch of eccentrics, but do not ask Jose Mourinho to find them lovable. A side beaten by Oldham in the FA Cup has somehow found a way to draw away fixtures with all three of England's leading clubs in the Premiership.

Yesterday, Chelsea lost their knack of rolling on where Manchester United and Arsenal have stalled.

They still hold a lead in the table of nine points and the Premier League might have to confiscate a few from them over the alleged tapping of Ashley Cole if Mourinho's palms are to start sweating. Nonetheless, Alex Ferguson's observation that Chelsea are no longer playing so well may be a fact as well as a ploy on United's behalf.

With Petr Cech in goal, Chelsea have set a record for the top division in England of nine consecutive clean sheets. It was, however, the feats of the opposing goalkeeper that resonated yesterday.

David James generally did well and, for instance, got his legs in the way of a Frank Lampard free-kick that flew through the defensive wall after 72 minutes, but it was in stoppage time that he gave the game its defining moment.

Paulo Ferreira delivered a free-kick that was eventually knocked back across goal by Terry and Lampard cracked a volley that James, showing uncanny reflexes, palmed away with enough strength of hand to push it to safety. The Chelsea midfielder, who could be proud of his technique, must have wished he had come up with a mis-hit to wrongfoot the goalkeeper.

All the same, it was not the fates who conspired against Chelsea. Just before James made his save a vigilant Richard Dunne came across to clear from a corner when, for a second, the substitute Tiago seemed to have presented Eidur Gudjohnsen with an opening to score. The alertness of the centre back, though, was echoed throughout the line-up.

There were chances but no sieges from Chelsea because City scrambled their build-up in midfield. Players like Joey Barton produced strong tackles but they were also capable in their passing just when the Stamford Bridge team thought they were about to assume control.

It was the visitors who had the simplest invitation to score. On a counter-attack six minutes prior to half-time, Barton flighted a good ball to the wing. Shaun Wright-Phillips then supplied the England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson with evidence that he can play on the left of midfield by beating Claude Makelele and steering over a cross. John Terry slipped, but a lunging Robbie Fowler sent his header wide.

Chelsea were leg-weary after a harsh contest on Blackburn's pitch and they were without influential figures yesterday.

The absence of Arjen Robben is ominous and Chelsea are still not sure how badly his ligaments have been damaged or whether the Dutchman has broken a bone in his foot. It hampers Mourinho that the injured Didier Drogba was also unavailable.

Worse still, others did not really compensate for the disadvantages. All the images of Mateja Kezman were unhappy ones until he was taken off. It felt like a manifestation of his lack of confidence that he seemed to prefer to go down early in the game, when Dunne had actually avoided touching him, instead of surging for the penalty area.

Despite his incessant scoring in the Netherlands he has only one Premiership goal and even that was notched from the penalty spot, against Newcastle United.

As it was, set-pieces were Chelsea's most productive device. William Gallas, slackly marked, directed a downward header from Duff's corner after 38 minutes, but it was blocked by the efforts of Paul Bosvelt and James on the goal-line.

It is no tragedy for Chelsea that they could not win their ninth Premiership match in a row but they would have preferred to keep their lustre as they approach a difficult spell that begins with a trip to Everton on Saturday.