Roman Abramovich wanted more entertainment but this, presumably, was not quite what he had in mind. There are goalless draws and goalless bores, and this definitely was not in the second category. Avram Grant’s first match at Stamford Bridge as manager saw his captain, John Terry, laid low with a fractured cheekbone and his principal goalscorer, Didier Drogba, sent off on his return after injury.

Demonstrations had been promised to protest the departure of Jose Mourinho, but these proved to be the soggiest of damp squibs. There were a couple of banners, expressing the fans’ thanks to the “Special One”, and the crowd chanted his name as Chelsea pushed for the win, but leaflets that had urged supporters to walk out at half-time in a show of their disapproval of the managerial change brought no response.

Instead, the focus of attention was Terry’s injury, sustained in a clash of heads, which forced him to give way to Alex at half-time, and Drogba’s dismissal, after 74 minutes, when he was yellow-carded for the second time for a reckless kick that caught Chris Baird in the head.

Terry is likely to be out of action for at least three weeks, which will rule him out of England’s forthcoming European Championship qualifiers against Estonia and Russia. Drogba, just back after a four-match absence with knee trouble, will now be banned for another one. Abramovich spurned his customary seat in his private box for the Upper Shed where, surrounded by bodyguards, he was repeatedly told, in no uncertain terms, about the folly of his ways over Mourinho.

At the end, he walked away, stony-faced, after another disappointing result which leaves Chelsea with two points from a possible 12. They are seven points behind the league leaders, Arsenal, having played a game more, and the only consolation for Abramovich, Grant and company is that the 66-match unbeaten run at home which was Mourinho’s legacy has not been blown at the first time of asking. After two clear-the-air meetings with Grant since Mourinho’s departure, Drogba had signalled his approval of the new regime by agreeing to return to the starting lineup ahead of schedule. He had been sorely missed. Fuelling the arguments of the conspiracy theorists, Drogba’s attacking foil was Andriy Shevchenko, who hardly merits a place on recent form.

He lasted 54 miserably ineffective minutes before he was replaced by Claudio Pizarro. Grant sought to provide the attacking football Abramovich craves with a 4-2-3-1 formation, which had Shevchenko in the middle three behind Drogba, in the role Eidur Gudjohnsen used to perform. How Chelsea could do with the Icelander now.

By the time the first choruses of “Jose Mourinho” circled the stadium, Shevchenko had shot horribly over the bar from 16 yards, and wasted two free-kicks from promising positions by shooting into the feet of the defensive wall. The first murmurs of discontent followed, the Fulham fans joining in with derisive laughter when the £30m man fired weakly at Kasey Keller from a central position, 20 yards out. Midway through the first half, David Healy turned adroitly, leaving Terry and Tal Ben-Haim for dead before advancing at pace and supplying a short cross from the right which might have produced a goal. Instead the ball was beyond the control of Simon Davies, and Claude Makelele was in quickly to clear the danger.

Chelsea’s first attack of consequence was delayed until the 27th minute, when Joe Cole surged through the middle before letting fly with a shot which demanded Keller’s careful attention. Kalou tried his luck from distance but was denied by Aaron Hughes’ blocking intervention, and after half an hour the crowd had fallen into dismayed silence.

They had something to entertain them, at last, when Kalou went past Baird on the left before putting over a cross which Shevchenko volleyed into the side netting. Chelsea were within inches of breaking the stalemate after 35 minutes when Joe Cole’s cross from the right narrowly evaded the onrushing Drogba’s outstretched leg at the far post. Terry threatened with a header before the interval, but it was the second half before Chelsea came to life.

Immediately on the resumption, with Fulham still noting Terry’s substitution, Joe Cole sprinted to the byline on the right and delivered a cross which invited Kalou to score. He seemed to have done so, at close range, only for Keller to spirit the ball away, via his right-hand post. The near-miss served to stir the crowd out of their torpor, and suddenly there was atmosphere where for 45 minutes apathy had reigned. The introduction of Pizarro enlivened the Chelsea attack, facilitating a switch to 4-4-2 which became 4-2-4 at every opportunity, with Joe Cole and Kalou pushing forward down either flank. Drogba, with a resounding thump, brought a decent save from Keller, then Kalou, from Ashley Cole’s cross, headed wastefully wide.

For Fulham Healy, unable to replicate his international form at club level, gave way to Diomansy Kamara. Joe Cole might have won it after 70 minutes, but toe-poked wide. Drogba, already booked, was sent off in the 75th minute for a high kick which caught Baird in the head. Fulham would have burgled it in the 86th minute but for Cech’s excellence, which saw the goalkeeper deny Paul Konchesky one-on-one. Kamara, escaping Ben-Haim’s maladroit attentions, had another chance later still, but shot wide across the face of the goal from right to left. And so Chelsea head off to Valencia, without Terry.

Welcome to the big league, Avram – nobody said it was going to be easy. Chelsea Fulham 3 Shots on target (incl goals) 1 13 Shots off target 4 3 Blocked shots 3 9 Corners won 4 9 Total fouls conceded 18 4 Offsides 2 0 Yellow cards 1 1 Red cards 0 69% Possession 31%

Star man: Joe Cole (Chelsea)

Player ratings: Chelsea: Cech 7, Belletti 6, Ben-Haim 6, Terry 6 (Alex ht, 5), A Cole 6, Makelele 6, Sidwell 5, J Cole 7, Shevchenko 4, Kalou 6, Drogba 6

Fulham: Keller 7, Konchesky 6, Bocanegra 6, Hughes 7, Baird 7, Ki-Hyeon 5, Davis 6, Smertin 6, Davies 6, Dempsey 7, Healy 6