Cesc Fabregas scored his first Chelsea goal but was unable to help Jose Mourinho's side to victory in their Champions League group-stage opener as they were held by Schalke.

The Spain midfielder, 27, who joined from Barcelona in the summer, swept in the opener from Eden Hazard's pass.

idier Drogba shot wide when through before striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar drove in an equaliser after a counter.

Chelsea's Loic Remy had a shot cleared off the line as Schalke held on.

It was a deserved point for the German side, after an impressive defensive display as Chelsea pushed for a winner in the closing stages.

For Mourinho, the result was a disappointing one, especially after a storming start to the season in which his side won their opening four Premier League games.

But the Portuguese boss will be able to take heart from Chelsea's performance in the Champions League last season, when they lost their opening group game to Basel but went on to reach the semi-final.

Mourinho is aiming to become the first manager to win the Champions League with three separate clubs, having won it with Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan in 2010.

However, he has not taken a side to the final in the last four years, exiting at the semi-final stage on each occasion.

And although he has not been involved in a final since 2010, Chelsea have, winning the tournament two years ago under Roberto Di Matteo, with Drogba scoring the decisive spot-kick in the final as they beat Bayern Munich on penalties.

Drogba, re-signed by Mourinho in the summer two years after he left the club, was handed his first start in the competition for Chelsea since that game, with seven-goal striker Diego Costa taking his place on the bench.

But Drogba, 36, looked short of sharpness, most notably dragging a shot wide in the second half after being put through, which would have given Chelsea a two-goal lead.

Instead, Chelsea's attacking threat largely came from the trio of Willian, Hazard and Fabregas behind Drogba.

It was little surprise Hazard was involved in Chelsea's opener. Fabregas started the move, winning the ball from a Schalke defender and then exchanging passes with Hazard just inside the area before sliding a shot beyond goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann.

Schalke had never scored against Chelsea in four previous Champions League meetings, let alone beaten them.

And their early-season form in their domestic league - they are without a win in four games - did little to suggest that would change.

But to their credit, they became more threatening as the game wore on, signalling a warning just before the break when Julian Draxler swept a shot agonisingly wide after being allowed to run into the area.

Then, after Drogba failed to score from Hazard's beautiful pass, the German side equalised on the counter.

Huntelaar stole possession from Fabregas in the middle of the pitch and sent Draxler away. He raced towards goal before returning a pass to Huntelaar and his shot from the edge of the area went through the legs of defender Gary Cahill and into the net.

That prompted Mourinho to bring on Costa and fellow new signing Remy for the closing stages in an effort to snatch a winner.

The added firepower certainly improved their attack, as Remy saw a shot cleared off the line while Hazard smashed an effort over, but in the end they were made to settle for a point.