Soccer-Chelsea keep Villas-Boas waiting for first win

MANCHESTER, England, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Chelsea's bid to give new coach Andre Villas-Boas a winning start in his first Premier League match was scuppered by some excellent goalkeeping as they drew 0-0 at Stoke City on Sunday.

After a muted first half, Chelsea picked up the pace after the break with John Obi Mikel, substitute Nicolas Anelka and Salomon Kalou forcing Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic to make some great saves.
Striker Fernando Torres was behind many of the Chelsea moves forward, playing with a confidence last seen in his best Liverpool days, but despite dominating the game last year's league runners-up could not find the back of the net.
Two of Chelsea's title rivals, Arsenal and Liverpool, have also already dropped points with Arsene Wenger's side drawing 0-0 at Newcastle United on Saturday and Kenny Dalglish's men being held 1-1 at home to Sunderland in their opener.
Champions Manchester United start the defence of their title later in the day at West Bromwich Albion, while fellow trophy hopefuls Manchester City kick off their campaign at home to promoted Swansea City on Monday.