Wigan 0-2 Chelsea
Chelsea failed to hit the heights of last week's 6-0 thrashing of
Manchester City against strugglers Wigan at the JJB, but two fine
first-half goals were enough to put them back in the Premier League
hunt via a 2-0 win.
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Mario Melchiot sends Florent Malouda flying
Rivals Manchester United and Arsenal drew earlier in the day,
ensuring Chelsea's two Shaun Wright-Phillips-inspired goals were
enough to see them cut the gap at the top.
Wright-Phillips, making the most of a surplus of possession in the
opening 45 minutes, handed Frank Lampard the opener on a plate,
before an athletic leap gave Juliano Belletti the chance to score
his first gaol for the club in fine style.
On paper the match was scarcely a contest, with Chelsea hitting 10
goals in their last two outings - including last week's 6-0
humbling of Manchester City - and Wigan reeling on the back of five
straight defeats.
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Wigan boss Chris Hutchings attempted to saturate the midfield with
five men, including the industrious Michael Brown, while Chelsea
looked to wingers Wright-Phillips and Florent Malouda for their
spark.
Brown and Jason Koumas were both penalised for needless early
fouls, before Belletti injected some pace into proceedings, surging
into the penalty area and earning a corner.
There was a fanciful appeal for a Wigan penalty when Marcus Bent
hit the ground after seven minutes and Denny Landzaat forced a
first save out of Cech soon after.
But the lead was Chelsea's in the 11th minute when some quick feet
from Wright-Phillips took him past challenges from Landzaat and
Kevin Kilbane.
His measured ball found Lampard in the area and he swept home with
aplomb to follow up his hat-trick against Leicester.
Wright-Phillips was involved in the second, leaping acrobatically
to keep the ball from going out, although there was a suspicion the
ball may have crossed the line.
But it was Belletti who produced the magic, running 60 yards into
Wigan territory before taking advantage of some reticent defending
to rifle past Chris Kirkland from 20 yards.
Wigan's game plan looked increasingly misguided as the half
progressed, with Bent isolated in attack and the five-man midfield
struggling to shackle their opponents.
After half-an-hour Wright-Phillips, thriving in yards of space,
jinked his way into a shooting position but this time his end
product let him down and the ball nestled safely in Kirkland's
arms.
Didier Drogba looked less comfortable, coming to the dugout
clutching his knee after tumbling awkwardly earlier in the half,
but he was sent back into action after a short conversation with
assistant coach Henk ten Cate.
Malouda missed a decent chance to make it three when he completely
mis-hit Belletti's curling cross from six yards, while Koumas
produced a fine sliding tackle to dispossess the full-back who was
eying up a repeat of his earlier strike.
Sloppy defending in the second minute after the restart handed
Koumas possession 20 yards from the Chelsea goal but, by the time
the Welshman found Landzaat in the penalty box, the Blues had
recovered sufficiently to block out his shot.
Koumas did better with his next pass moments later, releasing Bent
with his first touch.
There was another huge appeal for a penalty when the striker went
down with Carvalho in attendance, but it looked neither a foul nor
inside the area.
The hosts continued to put their opponents under pressure, Brown's
skiddy 56th-minute shot needing a well-timed block from Alex to
protect Cech.
There was more good link-up play between Lampard and
Wright-Phillips shortly after the hour, with plenty to encourage
under-fire England boss Steve McClaren from both men.
Drogba, whose future at the club has been under almost constant
scrutiny since Jose Mourinho left, was becoming ill-disciplined,
conceding fouls on a number of occasions as Chelsea's rhythm
dipped.
Indeed, it took a deft piece of tracking back from Wright-Phillips
to quell a dangerous Wigan break as Landzaat erred on the
ball.
Wigan, meanwhile, were causing panic in the away defence with some
aggressive running, although Bent looked like he could do with
sharing the burden up front.
Paul Scharner had his side's last real effort, connecting well with
a dipping volley but not forcing a save.
