Chelsea missed the chance to strengthen their top-four position as they produced an ineffective display in a 0-0 home draw with Southampton
Eden Hazard spurned the best opening of the first half when he fired at Southampton goalkeeper Angus Gunn, who was making his Premier League debut
Chelsea continued to labour after half-time, with Alvaro Morata having a goal ruled out in the 71st minute after a tight offside call and then seeing a shot saved by Gunn
Southampton rarely threatened but will likely be satisfied with a hard-earned point, while there were some boos from Chelsea fans at the final whistle
Having lost their final home game of 2018 to Leicester, this was another lacklustre display from Chelsea in front of their own supporters, who had been 
Chelsea particularly struggled to get anything going in a forgettable first half
Morata headed at Gunn while Willian had a shot blocked before he was taken off with injury in the 37th minute
Chelsea's best chance fell to Hazard but he fired at Gunn after controlling Antonio Rudiger's pass over the top
While Southampton didn't have a shot on target before the break, they were compact in defence and succeeded in frustrating Chelsea and keeping them at bay
Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was called into action early in the second half to tip a low shot wide from Stuart Armstrong
But the game soon settled into the same pattern as the first half, with Chelsea controlling possession and failing to create any clear openings
Hazard and Jorginho shot at Gunn while Morata thought he had broken the deadlock when he finished from inside the box, only for the flag to go up for a tight offside call
Substitutes Cesc Fabregas and Ruben Loftus-Cheek then combined to tee up Morata but Gunn blocked his low shot
 "The match was under control with the ball possession and the opportunities, but it's very difficult to create a lot of opportunities if you are not able to score the first goal
 If you are able to score then you can find spaces and it's easier to create a lot of opportunities
 They were really very compact and it wasn't easy
 You need to score the first goal otherwise it's very difficult
 We are in trouble only in the last 20 metres, I think for 80 metres we played a very good match
" "We made the right decision on Sunday to change so many players against Manchester City
 We knew if we wanted to have a chance against Chelsea we had to put seven or eight fresh players on the pitch otherwise it's not possible to defend for 95 minutes and I think we did a good job
"The experienced Southampton defender produced a strong performance to limit Chelsea's chances and ensure Gunn did not have an overly busy night on his Premier League debut
 He made one crucial tackle towards the end of the match to prevent N'Golo Kante from having a clear sight of goal
Chelsea host Nottingham Forest in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday and then travel to Tottenham for the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Tuesday, live on 
 Their next Premier League match sees them host Newcastle on Saturday, January 12
Southampton face a trip to Championship side Derby in the FA Cup on Saturday and then travel to Leicester in the Premier League on January 12
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