Chelsea could only muster a draw against 10-men Nottingham Forest that sees their run of five wins on the bounce come to an end.
With Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool all winning on Saturday, Chelsea could have muscled in on the big boys, who all look ready to launch a title challenge this season.
Three points for the Blues would have seen them go two points behind Liverpool, who they take on next after the international break.
It would have given Arne Slot something to think about, as well as Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta, though this might be too early for this youthful Chelsea side to think about.
Noni Madueke saved Chelsea a point
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Enzo Maresca’s team have looked in fine fettle in recent matches, scoring 16 in their last four games, but came up against a resolute Nottingham Forest.
Forest have made many eat their words this season and have lost just once in the Premier League and battled for every ball and are difficult to break down.
And when they took the lead straight after half-time, not many could have complained in Stamford Bridge in what was an even fixture.
Chris Wood toed in Nikola Milenkovic’s knock-on from a free-kick while set-pieces remain an issue for Chelsea’s defence and Rob Sanchez.
However, Noni Madueke raised the roof when he cut inside to pull out a neat finish to grab the equaliser as both sides had to settle for a point.
Chelsea have lost just twice this season – the opening game of the season to City and the second leg against Servette in the Europa Conference League play-off with the first leg already wrapped up.
There have been clear signs of progress under Maresca, it must be said, though he has plenty of artillery to call upon – with the likes of Joao Felix, Christopher Nkunku and Pedro Neto on the bench.
Cole Palmer, who has been in excellent form this season, grabbed the assist for Madueke but could have had a couple of goals himself but was denied late on by Matt Sels.
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Chris Wood opened the scoring at Stamford Bridge
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In a feisty game that included one red card and seven yellow cards, the tensions boiled over in the last few minutes as Marc Cucurella and Neco Williams clashed.
It came during a frantic few minutes when both sides had excellent chances to take home all three points with Felix meeting a Neto cross only to head just wide.
Sanchez then saved brilliantly from a rasping Williams effort before Mykhailo Mudryk was sent down the flank on the counter, whose cross and header from Nkunku was parried away by Sels.
The Chelsea keeper was then called upon again with the last kick of the game to keep Jota Silva at bay.
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Noni Madueke kept his side’s unbeaten streak to seven matches
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In the end, a point might have been the right result for both sides – who have showed that they can battle it out when needed.
However, there is no doubt that Forest will be the happier of the two sides – especially after a red card to James Ward-Prowse for deliberate handball.
But despite the numerical advantage, Chelsea’s old problems in front of goal reared its ugly head again – though there is no need to go back to the drawing board as they travel to Anfield next on October 20.