Aston Villa thwarted Chelsea's hopes of opening up a seven-point lead at the English Premier League summit by holding the champions to a 0-0 draw on Saturday.
Nicolas Anelka was denied a dramatic late winner when a downward header from Ashley Cole bounced up and against Brad Friedel's crossbar.
Villa was also presented with a chance to win the game in stoppage time when Nigel Reo-Coker shot wide when one-on-one with goalkeeper Petr Cech.
''The way we played in the second half we deserved to win, but Villa did well in the first half, so a draw is fair,'' Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said. ''I am not disappointed about failing to go seven points clear. We knew this would be a difficult game. Last year we lost here. This is a good result at this stage of the season, and to be five points clear is good.
''I'm not going to complain about the injured players because the ones who came in today did well.''
Having collected just four points from its last three matches, Chelsea's lead can be trimmed to two points if Manchester City wins at Blackpool on Sunday. Villa was eighth with 11 points - eight behind Chelsea.
''The only thing missing from a good game was goals,'' Villa manager Gerard Houllier said. ''It was football played at a great pace between two good sides.
''We had the better chances in the first half, but we were under the cosh in the second half before coming back at the end.''
Villa dominated from the start and squandered a great chance to go ahead in the third minute when Stephen Ireland's shot crept round the post.
Cech produced a fine save to deny John Carew, with his shot fingertipped around the past.
Paolo Ferreira's well-timed tackle then denied Carew another shooting opportunity after Ashley Young had threaded the ball into his path.
Michael Essien became the first player to be booked for bringing down Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov, who had a shot deflected wide after Ireland teed him up on the edge of the Chelsea box.
After that, Chelsea started to enjoy a fair slice of possession and John Obi Mikel had the London side's first attempt on target in the 33rd minute although it was comfortably dealt with by Friedel.
Ancelotti made a halftime switch with the ineffective Kakuta replaced by Yuri Zhirkov and there was more urgency about the visitors' play in the early part of the second half.
Florent Malouda tested Friedel with a powerful 25-meter (yard) shot and the American goalkeeper blocked Anelka's low drive with his legs.
Branislav Ivanovic came close to breaking the deadlock in the 77th when he powered his header against the near post from Malouda's corner.
But the goal frame came to Chelsea's rescue when Young's free kick hit the back of captain John Terry's head and then deflected off Villa substitute Ciaran Clark onto a post.
