drab
Frank Lampard pays price for playing Christian Pulisic out of position as Chelsea fight to drab draw with Sevilla in Champions League opener
In the latter stages of last season, Christian Pulisic was arguably the Premier League's best player.
So Frank Lampard's decision to play him out on the right wing in the 0-0 draw with Sevilla on Wednesday night baffled many.
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The Blues boss paid the price for his decision to play Mason Mount on the left and may have cost his side the three points in their Champions League opener.
Kurt Zouma had the best chance of a frustrating west London night, the France defender's free header losing all sting through a deflection.
But despite flashes of promise the Blues boss is yet to find the best fit for his expensively assembled jigsaw.
Fit-again Edouard Mendy at least kept a clean sheet, the Senegal stopper producing a tidy performance on the night Petr Cech was named in Chelsea's Premier League squad.
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Where Chelsea played fast and loose in the weekend's turbulent draw with Southampton though, here the Champions League Group E opener proved in the main insipid.
Chelsea did manage to start the night brightly enough, with Reece James exploiting space on the right flank.
Two half-chances came and went though, and Jorginho's cheap yellow card handed Sevilla a dangerous set-piece.
Suso whipped in the cross and Nemanja Gudelj's header would have nestled in the net but for a deflection off Zouma that allowed Mendy to palm clear.
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Nothing encapsulated Chelsea's off-kilter first-half more than Timo Werner managing to overrun his own onwards header.
As the ball dropped the wrong way, another smart James pass was wasted.
Lucas Ocampos drilled low on goal after Zouma's miscued clearance, but Mendy was up to the challenge.
Werner still had time to scuff a late effort in closing a lacklustre half, before Chelsea headed for an obvious dissection of a frustrating showing.
The hosts returned in brighter spirits, with Pulisic's switch to the left adding immediate balance.
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Zouma connected with a free header from a fine Chilwell corner, only for Gudelj's fortunate deflection remove the sting and gift goalkeeper Yassine Bounou a facile save.
Another headed chance for Zouma quickly came and went, before the match again descended into a midfield muddle.
Joan Jordan connected sweetly with a volley after a corner, only to see his dipping effort land the wrong side of Mendy's crossbar.
Lampard by this stage had pitched Mateo Kovacic and Hakim Ziyech into the fray in a bid to inject some much-needed impetus.
That tempo never increased however, leaving the Blues to lament a disjointed draw.
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