ENGLAND striker Kevin Phillips was made to rue a rare penalty miss as Sunderland and Chelsea fought out their first goal-less draw on Wearside for 32 years.

The 48,017 fans thought that Sunderland had cracked it when Republic of Ireland winger Kevin Kilbane was brought down in the first minute of the second half - but Phillips' powerful spot kick was pushed away brilliantly by Italian keeper Carlo Cudicini.

Cudicini also blocked a close range header from Phillips as Sunderland tried desperately to break the deadlock against a Chelsea team which never produced the free-flowing football which had brought them a 3-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford just over a week before.

But Phillips was still the star of a lack-lustre game and deserved a goal for his non-stop efforts.

Sunderland chose not to involve their latest £4.5m signing, Claudio Reyna, in the game, though the 28-year-old United States skipper was introduced to the fans before the teams took the field.

There was another surprise for home supporters when Republic of Ireland striker Niall Quinn was named as substitute and his place alongside leading scorer Kevin Phillips was taken by French international Lilian Laslandes.

Laslandes was guilty of a bad miskick in front of goal to end Sunderland's first dangerous advance and when Chelsea showed their teeth a long ranger from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, out on the right, was far too ambitious.

Sunderland had an escape in the ninth minute when Eidur Gudjohnsen went past stand-in right back George McCartney and Mario Stanic, under pressure, put a right foot shot wide from eight yards.

Sunderland's early passing wasn't good, with Kevin Kilbane, in for the injured Jason McAteer, at fault and when Chelsea pressed forward it took a brilliant tackle from behind to prevent Gudjohnsen striking a shot after breaking clear into the penalty area.

Sunderland built up a period of steady pressure in which the Chelsea defence looked unfomfortable, mainly having to deal with a series of crosses from the left, but there was no end product to trouble Cudicini in goal.

But a great pass from Kilbane set up a long-range shooting opportunity for Phillips in the 24th minute and the Italian keeper had to push the pile-driver round the foot of the post.

Chelsea were not getting their game together but there was danger for Sunderland on the half hour when Gudjohnsen had a shot blocked by Williams on the edge of the box and he then put his follow-up wide.

Chelsea almost conceded an own goal in the 31st minute when William Gallas got his head to a curling free-kick from Arca and Cudicini had to make a flying save.

Stanic, booked for a foul on Gavin McCann, was lucky to get away with a warning a couple of minutes later when he tripped McCartney after losing possession to the young defender.

The Croatian midfielder fired in Chelsea's first shot on target a minute before half-time, but the 22-yarder did not trouble Thomas Sorensen.

There was a sensational start to the second half when Sunderland were awarded a penalty after only 26 seconds of play as Kilbane was pulled back by Babayaro as he brust into the box. But the joy of the home fans was short lived when Cudicini dived to his right to push away Phillips' spot kick in the 46th minute.

Sunderland conceded a free-kick in a dangerous area just outside the box but Hasselbaink's powerful right foot drive struck the defensive wall and was deflected behind.

It was still not an attractive game by any means, with both defences on top, but there was a roar of disbelief in the 54th minute when Cudicini made an incredible save, blocking a point-blank header from Phillips who met a long raking centre from Kilbane full on.

And at the other end Sorensen went down to gather a left foot shot from Hasselbaink after the Dutch striker side-stepped a challenge from Michael Gray to shoot from 12 yards.

Phillips was again out of luck in the 56th muinute when he rose to meet a free-kick from McCann, but his header flashed across the face of goal.

Phillips - Sunderland's best player - was body-checked by Gallas 25 yards out as he tried to engineer a shooting chance and the England man blasted the free-kick a yard over the bar.

Laslandes was hurt in a clash with Della Bona, who was booked, and had to have his head bandaged before resuming. But he only lasted a few minutes before being replaced by Quinn.

Just before Chelsea wasted a wonderful chance of snatching the lead when Jokanovic blasted a right foot shot over the bar from the edge of the box after Melchiot opened up the home defence.

But Sunderland also went close when Arca planted a glancing header on to the roof of the net following a good centre from Kilbane.

Chelsea got the ball into the Sunderland net in the 79th minute when Jokanovic forced home a close range shot, but Sorensen had been fouled going up for a Lampard corner.