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ANDRE VILLAS-BOAS discovered just how tough the Premier League will be after Stoke denied his Chelsea side in a hard-fought draw. The Portugese manager will have drawn some positives though after last season's �50 million flop Fernando Torres produced an encouraging performance. Having been on the back foot in the first half, the Blues piled on the pressure after the break. But they could not find a way past Asmir Begovic in the Stoke goal, with his tip onto the crossbar from Nicolas Anelka's effort the closest either side came to a winner. The Villas-Boas reign started with Torres leading the line and Didier Drogba on the bench. Stoke's summer signing Jonathan Woodgate made his league debut with Rory Delap returning to midfield in place of Dean Whitehead. Torres started brightly with a number of surging runs, while Begovic had to be alert to tip behind Jose Bosingwa's cross-cum-shot. The Spaniard was causing problems, with Ryan Shawcross was booked in the 10th minute for clattering him having missed with his first attempt. The striker responded by dragging a low shot just wide before Kalou went down in the penalty area under a challenge from Glenn Whelan only for referee Mark Halsey to wave play on. John Terry's blatant foul on Kenwyne Jones close to the byline gave Matt Etherington a chance to whip in a free-kick which Bosingwa and Cech managed to keep out under the crossbar at the near post. Ashley Cole got away with barging into the back of Etherington on the halfway line as the winger tried to escape him, with Stoke refusing to allow their opponents to settle. In a hard-fought first half Ramires came closest, his low cross that followed a jinking run evading his team-mates in the six-yard area. Added time then saw Torres' weaving run take him into the penalty area, but the slightest touch by Shawcross forced the striker to bundle a shot wide. Chelsea moved up a gear in the second half, laying seige to the Stoke goal. Woodgate was forced to divert Frank Lampard's shot behind and then blocked Torres six yards out as he swivelled to shoot from Terry's downward header. Lampard was convinced he should have had a penalty when he went down under a challenge from Marc Wilson but the England midfielder looked to be heading to ground anyway. Begovic was then called into action, tipping over a John Obi Mikel dipping volley. Stoke lost Etherington to what looked a serious shoulder injury just past the hour and he was replaced by Whitehead. The introduction of Anelka for Malouda added another dimension to the attack and Begovic was at full stretch to tip his curling effort onto the crossbar. Stoke's goalkeeper was relieved to then see Kalou head straight at him from eight yards as Chelsea continued to threaten. Drogba came on with 15 minutes to go, but even with their three front-line strikers on the pitch the visitors were unable to break down their hosts.