Norwich City's slim hopes of Premier League survival are still alive after they managed to hold Chelsea to a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge this afternoon.
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After a cagey opening, Norwich felt that they should have been awarded a penalty in the 10th minute when Martin Olsson was taken out by a combination of Ashley Cole and John Terry, but referee Neil Swarbrick didn't concur.
Down the other end, Terry came close to heading the Blues in front, but could only nod straight at John Ruddy from Andre Schurrle's corner.
Schurrle himself then came within inches of netting the opener when he cut inside from the left and curled a low shot against the post.
Jose Mourinho brought on Eden Hazard and David Luiz at half time and the latter almost made an instant impact inside two minutes, striking the crossbar with a powerful side-footed effort.
Chelsea were seeing plenty of the ball in Norwich's half but struggling to break the Canaries down, and the visitors almost stung them on the counter-attack after 70 minutes.
Nathan Redmond slid Robert Snodgrass through on goal, but the midfielder hesitated and had his shot blocked by Gary Cahill.
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Hazard was Chelsea's main threat in the second half and he almost grabbed a winner for the hosts with 10 minutes left on the clock, shimmying into the box before shooting low at Ruddy, who beat it out.
The result means that Chelsea miss out on the chance to go temporarily top of the table. The Blues are a point adrift of Manchester City and Liverpool but have played a game more.
Norwich, meanwhile, are now two points behind Sunderland, who play their game in hand at home to West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday night.
If the Black Cats lose, then Norwich can stay up on the final day if they beat Arsenal at home and Sunderland are beaten by Swansea City.
Pascal Lemesre
