Chelsea's bid to clamber back into the Premier League title race endured a further setback following a 1-1 draw at home to local rivals Fulham.

Juan Mata had fired Chelsea in front just after the interval, but Clint Dempsey's equaliser, and a superb showing from Fulham goalkeeper David Stockdale, earned the visitors a point.

Both sides had chances in the first half and Orlando Sa, who was making just his second Premier League start, should have scored his first goal for Fulham on 14 minutes, but headed over the bar.

Within a minute, Chelsea were up the other end as Fernando Torres superbly controlled a cross on his chest before firing a first-time volley straight at Stockdale.

Chelsea did not have to wait long to take the lead after half-time when Mata swept the ball home from the edge of the area after Torres had juggled Ashley Cole's cross.

However, Fulham were level on 56 minutes when poor defending from Cole allowed Bryan Ruiz to slide in a low cross which Dempsey diverted home from close range.

Stockdale then produced a fine double save to tip Daniel Sturridge's shot over before reacting smartly with his feet from the resulting corner to keep out substitute Florent Malouda's clever flick.

Substitute Didier Drogba, Raul Meireles and Malouda again were all thwarted by Stockdale in the closing stages before Pajtim Kasami almost nicked it for Fulham, who bounced back from last week's 5-0 home thrashing by Manchester United.

Determined

Torres, whose current goal drought stretched back nine matches, had been hoping for a Boxing Day gift from a side that shipped five against the Red Devils and who were without the injured Bobby Zamora and Andy Johnson.

One man Stamford Bridge did provide some sanctuary for was Chelsea captain John Terry following the barracking he received at Tottenham on Thursday over his charge for alleged racist abuse.

Terry played like a man on a mission at White Hart Lane and he and his team-mates needed another good performance to maintain their dwindling title hopes.

Fulham looked determined to spoil all that, Dempsey going a little far with a cynical tug on Meireles that saw the American booked in the early stages.

Otherwise, they were the better side for 15 minutes, with Dempsey's bouncing 25-yard shot forcing an uncomfortable save from Cech and Sa seeing an effort blocked by David Luiz before wasting a great chance when he headed Stephen Kelly's cross over the bar.

Torres, who had already had half a sniff, was unlucky not to give Chelsea the lead when he expertly controlled Mata's cross on his chest but smashed his volley straight at Stockdale.

Torres then robbed Brede Hangeland on the edge of the box and laid off to Sturridge to slice off target but Fulham settled down again and Moussa Dembele dragged wide after bypassing Oriol Romeu.

Although Jose Bosingwa sent in some dangerous crosses, Chelsea were struggling to produce a telling ball against what was at times a nine-man defence, with Meireles and Romeu resorting to wayward pot shots.

Stalemate

The stalemate continued until two minutes before the break when Dembele sent a tame header too close to Cech.

Chelsea paraded Jimmy Greaves at half-time and their fans could have been forgiven for wishing he was playing up front for them today.

Torres' travails looked to have continued after the restart but the striker helped the Blues break the deadlock inside two minutes.

The £50million man failed to control Cole's cross but the ball fell perfectly for Mata to sweep home left footed from the edge of the box.

Fulham had only scored four league goals away from home all season, the worst record in the top flight but they were soon level with a superbly-worked goal.

The ball eventually found its way to Ruiz on the right, who tricked his way past Cole and crossed for Dempsey to stab past Cech.

Andre Villas-Boas took action just past the hour mark, hauling off Frank Lampard for Malouda and the change almost paid off when the Frenchman's backheel from Terry's header hit the feet of Stockdale and bounced back off Malouda for a goal-kick.

That came after the goalkeeper tipped over Sturridge's curler and before Bosingwa was cautioned for felling Kerim Frei.

Villas-Boas then threw on Didier Drogba for Sturridge. The Ivorian failed to beat Stockdale from a tight angle after gathering a terrific long ball from Luiz and Meireles curled a superb shot on the turn just past the post.

A masked Paulo Ferreira replaced Bosingwa in Chelsea's final change, Fulham responding by sending on Kasami for Sa.

Stockdale twice denied Chelsea a late winner, tipping Meireles' header from Malouda's cross over the bar, before palming away Drogba's glance from a corner.

The keeper nearly spilt Malouda's long-range drive and Chelsea almost paid the price when Kasami shot tamely at Cech before Stockdale's fingertips again denied them from Drogba's stoppage-time free-kick.

Click Here for Official Team Sheet

Teams 

Chelsea  Cech, Bosingwa (Ferreira 81), Luiz, Terry, Cole, Lampard (Malouda 62), Romeu, Meireles, Sturridge (Drogba 70), Torres, Mata
Subs Not Used  Turnbull, McEachran, Kalou, Lukaku
Booked  Bosingwa
Goals Mata 47

Fulham Stockdale, Kelly, Senderos, Hangeland, A Riise, Murphy, Frei, Dembélé, Ruiz, Dempsey; Sa (Kasami 82)
Subs Not Used  Etheridge, Baird, Hughes, Briggs, Etuhu, Sidwell
Booked  Dempsey
Goals  Dempsey 56

Attendance  41,548

Referee  K. Friend