Swansea 1 Chelsea 1
Jose Bosingwa’s late deflected strike spared Chelsea a sixth defeat of the season but the result must still be regarded as two points dropped.
The Blues looked set for the same fate as Arsenal, who were beaten at the Liberty Stadium, following Scott Sinclair’s first-half volley against former club.
Chelsea once again struggled to create clear-cut chances and after Ashley Cole was sent off for a second bookable offence with four minutes remaining, the game looked all but over.
But Bosingwa’s shot in the dying moments was turned in by luckless Swansea defender Neil Taylor.
After completing the signing of the highly-rated winger Kevin de Bruyne from Genk on deadline day, many Chelsea fans may be scratching their heads as to why the dangerous 20-year-old was loaned straight back to the Belgian side with their team continuing to lack creativity.
In fairness, though, the Blues are not the first pretenders to the top four that have found City more than a match, with the Gunners on the receiving end of a 3-2 defeat just over a fortnight ago.
Gylfi Sigurdsson, Danny Graham and Joe Allen all tested Blues keeper Petr Cech with shots in the first 20 minutes and David Luiz, maintaining his place in the team ahead of new signing Gary Cahill, was needed on several occasions to block efforts.
But it was Luiz’s failed clearance that allowed Sinclair to turn and volley in a deserved opener for Swansea.
A Sigurdsson free-kick from the right-hand side was swung into the six-yard box and Luiz headed to the feet of Sinclair, who swivelled his body and steered the ball cleverly beyond Cech’s reach.
Chelsea inevitably pushed numbers forward after the break, but they continued to lack creativity and Swansea comfortably dealt with danger in and around their penalty area.
Shots from Bosingwa and Branoslav Ivanovic were blocked by bodies in the box following set-pieces and Michael Essien fired over, but the Blues were listless in the final third.
Both of Cole’s bookings were deserved – especially the second, which was for a reckless tackle on Nathan Dyer, and with Swansea pressing it looked as though Chelsea would return home with nothing.
But after Romelu Lukaku’s shot was saved by keeper Michel Vorm, Bosingwa’s effort ended up in the net.
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