Chelsea 2 Blackburn Rovers 2: For all Chelsea's expensive bridgework Blackburn Rovers remain stuck in their teeth.
Blackburn have not lost a Premier League fixture at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea have not beaten them there since 1984, when they were back in the old Second Division and Roman Abramovich was a teenager back in the USSR.
In drawing, Chelsea dropped their first points of the season and it might have been worse had Garry Flitcroft's well-struck volley in stoppage time been a fraction straighter. As it was, Claudio Ranieri's side had to come from behind twice to avoid defeat.
The Chelsea manager needs at least 10 games to sort out the windfall of fresh talent follow-ing the Russian takeover. Any judgment now on Ranieri's ability, therefore, would be premature. Suffice to say the early signs are not encouraging.
Eventually a point in Saturday's match was reached when Ranieri, having taken off his wide players, had four central midfielders struggling to work in a diamond formation.
The situation recalled the chaotic audition in The Producers when somebody pleads: "Will all the dancing Hitlers stand over there!" Not that Chelsea are contriving a box office flop but this producer appears not to have decided who shall play the lead.
Against Blackburn only Frank Lampard looked ready to command Chelsea's game and he is one of football's NCOs, a middle man rather than an innovator. Juan Sebastian Veron did small neat things without taking in the big picture and ended up in the front of a diamond when he is better coming from the back.
With Damien Duff blocked by his erstwhile Ewood colleagues (and replaced at half-time by Emmanuel Petit) Geremi was dispatched to the wings, first the right then the left, and had more success.
Hernan Crespo, the latest multi-million-pound signing, replaced Adrian Mutu, who had beaten him into the team by a week, for the last quarter-hour, by which time Chelsea were reduced to playing long high balls into the goalmouth. Crespo looked puzzled.
True, there were moments when Chelsea's football achieved sufficient confidence and coordination to suggest a team of some stature will eventually emerge. One produced a goal disallowed, the other a goal that brought them back into the game on the stroke of half-time.
Ranieri's main problems stemmed less from his new midfield and attack than errors in a comparatively settled defence. To concede a goal after 19 seconds is careless, to do so after kicking off is criminal.
Marcel Desailly overbalanced trying to keep the ball in play, leaving Matt Jansen to supply the dipping centre from which Andy Cole volleyed Blackburn ahead. Much of the first half was dominated by Blackburn's superior teamwork, plus a defence strengthened by Markus Babbel. When Mutu steered Geremi's low cross past Brad Friedel on the half-hour he had come from an offside position and the linesman's flag, though tardy, was correct.
As the half ended Veron and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink set up Lampard to supply the pass from which Mutu scored, though had Lucas Neill stepped up the Romanian would again have been caught offside.
Before the hour a corner from David Thompson came straight back to him and his cross dipped over the head of Petit, surprising Carlo Cudicini whose feeble attempt to punch the ball clear contrasted with the agile save, from Thompson's free-kick, which led to the corner in the first place.
Once more Cole accepted the gift with alacrity but within five minutes Chelsea were back level, this time through Hasselbaink's penalty after Neill had handled as he went to block a cross from Geremi.