- Deco (4)
- Date:2008-08-24
- Kick-off:13:30
- Venue:The JJB Stadium
- Attendance:18139
- Referee:Wiley, A
Live Commentary
90mins
Chelsea are top of the Premier League table after this hard fought 1-0 win against a battling Wigan Athletic side.
88mins
Anelka makes way for Malouda.
87mins
Kapo unleashes a great strike that Cech does brilliantly to tip over the bar.
85mins
Steve Bruce is going for it as Camara comes on for Melchiot.
83mins
Bridge is on for Ashley Cole - who looks injured.
83mins
De Ridder sliced his shot wide of the target.
81mins
Zaki went on a strong run and his cross was cleared for a corner by Carvalho.
80mins
Palacios is replaced by Kapo for Wigan.
78mins
Cattermole's long range shot flew wide of the target.
76mins
Terry blocked Palacios shot from the edge of the box.
74mins
Carvalho was cautioned for a trip on Zaki.
70mins
The pace of the game has dropped off. Palacios had a chance to test Cech but fired a free kick straight at the Chelsea keeper.
67mins
Pollitt was forced into action after Essien fired in a shot from the edge of the area.
62mins
Kalou tried his luck from 35 yards out but Cattermole did well to block the shot.
58mins
Joe Cole makes way for Kalou.
58mins
De Ridder's near post corner was hacked clear by Bosingwa.
55mins
De Ridder did well to win the ball in a challenge with Deco. The former Birmingham midfielder had originally lost possession.
52mins
Lampard's driven cross was deflected wide for a corner to Chelsea.
50mins
The second half hasn't started as quickly as the first ended. Terry is down and getting treatment.
48mins
Cattermole is booked for a late tackle on Essien.
46mins
Wigan boss Steve Bruce has brought on De Ridder for the injured Koumas.
45mins
Chelsea go in at the break with a slender lead thanks to Deco's 4th minute free kick - but Wigan have played well and are not out of this game yet.
44mins
Koumas' floated free kick into the Chelsea box was well held by Cech.
42mins
Alan Wiley waves play on after Palacios appeared to bring down Anelka in the penalty area.
40mins
Pollitt came off his line to smother the ball after Anelka raced clear from Joe Cole's flick on.
38mins
Anelka headed wide of the target after a good cross by Ashley Cole.
35mins
Anelka chipped the ball to the back-post looking for Ballack, but Palacios did well to head clear.
32mins
Joe Cole's shot from 25 yards is charged down by Bramble.
30mins
Wigan are continuing to force the pace and Deco did well to clear with Koumas on the attack.
26mins
Good build up play by Wigan ended with Zaki having a snapshot that Cech did well to save.
25mins
The Wigan supporters screamed for a penalty after Cech appeared to push Boyce - but the referee waved play on.
23mins
Ashley Cole tried his luck from 20 yards but blazed his shot across the Wigan goalmouth.
20mins
Wigan are keeping Chelsea out at the back. Anelka is caught offside.
18mins
Carvalho headed over the Wigan bar from Lampard's corner.
16mins
Cech almost made a hash of a cross by Koumas - but managed to gather the ball at the second attempt.
14mins
Terry is the first man into ref Alan Wiley's notebook after a foul on Heskey.
11mins
Koumas' free kick into the Chelsea box was just too high for Heskey. Wigan haven't given this one up though.
8mins
Another good save by Cech after Koumas played in Zaki.
6mins
Wigan have responded well to going behind and Cech had to be alert to palm away Palacios' drive.
4mins
Great goal by Deco. The Portugal midfielder curls home a free kick from the edge of the area. No chance for Pollitt.
2mins
Essien did well to snuff out a Wigan attack as Palacios broke with Koumas in support.
0mins
Referee Alan Wiley gets the game underway in a half empty JJB stadium.
0mins
Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole, Ballack, Essien, Lampard, Deco, Anelka, Joe Cole
0mins
Essien replaces Obi Mikel in midfield for Chelsea, but there's still no place for Drogba who has a knee injury.
0mins
Wigan: Pollitt, Melchiot, Boyce, Bramble, Figueroa, Valencia, Cattermole, Palacios, Koumas, Heskey, Zaki
0mins
Steve Bruce brings Bramble and Pollitt back into Wigan's starting eleven, for the the injured Scharner and Kirkland, after the pair sat out an opening day defeat at West Ham.
Match Preview
Wigan Athletic will need to be at their best when they host the early pace-setters Chelsea on Sunday.
Their 2-1 defeat away to West Ham last weekend frustrated manager Steve Bruce as two Dean Ashton goals in the first 10 minutes of the match left Wigan with a mountain to climb.
"We're disappointed with the way we started. We prided ourselves last season on being disciplined and hard to beat," Bruce explained after the match.
"I'm delighted with the way we played but for the first 15 minutes. We gifted them the game - that's the disappointing thing."
Since then, Wigan have had to counter suggestions that Wilson Palacios and Olivier Kapo are going to leave the club before the transfer window closes on August 31.
On the injury front Bruce has no fresh concerns as brittle striker Emile Heskey returned from international duty with Wigan Athletic reporting no fresh problems.
Chelsea meanwhile appear to have given up their pursuit of Real Madrid forward Robinho after the Brazilian's agent said the Spanish club will not even negotiate his release.
Midfielder Michael Ballack is battling a foot injury and could miss the match with Wigan.
The Germany captain suffered the knock in the first half of last weekend's 4-0 drubbing of Portsmouth and missed his country's midweek friendly match.
"He will not train until Friday after which another evaluation will be made," a statement read earlier this week.
Ballack's replacement on Sunday, Florent Malouda, is likely to start if the 31-year-old fails his fitness test, although that is likely to be the only change after an impressive first match of the season.
Up front the Blues continue to look a little light on numbers as Didier Drogba may not be back in action until the end of October following summer knee surgery.
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Match Report
Chelsea's former Barcelona star Deco repaid another chunk of his £8million transfer fee as Wigan Athletic were again sunk by an early goal.
After conceding twice in the opening ten minutes at West Ham last week, the Latics held out for less than four minutes before the Portugal international fired in a stunning free kick.
But the big spending London side found the going a lot tougher than they did in the 4-0 opening day win over Portsmouth and only a late save from Petr Cech denied the Latics a point.
Wigan suffered a big blow before-kick off when keeper Chris Kirkland was a late withdrawal after a knock in the warm-up and Mike Pollitt took over.
Titus Bramble replaced Paul Scharner (ankle) and Jason Koumas was in the starting line-up with Olivier Kapo on the bench.
Chelsea had Michael Ballack and Michael Essien back and England coach Fabio Cappelllo was among the 18,139 crowd at the JJB Stadium.
He saw Chelsea get a dream start snatching the lead after Lee Cattermole gave away a dubious free-kick for handball five yards outside the box.
Deco took responsibility and made no mistake, beating the wall with a terrific strike which gave Pollitt no chance.
Wigan hit back strongly with Wilson Palacios testing Cech at his near post with a piledriver and the keeper again earning his money by blocking another from Amr Zaki after Koumas played him in with a superb ball.
Maynor Figueroa was inches away with a long-range effort, before Ricardo Carvalho almost got a second for Chelsea with a powerful header just over the bar.
Wigan had a penalty claim turned down when the keeper appeared to push Palacios as a corner came in and Cech then came to the rescue again, keeping out another shot from Zaki as the Latics hunted an equaliser.
Chelsea felt they should have had a penalty when Nicolas Anelka went down with Emmerson Boyce close by. But the replay showed ref Alan Wiley got it right and the visitors had to settle for the 1-0 half-time lead.
Wigan battled away in the second half with Egypt striker Zaki a willing workhorse, but they failed to really test Cech, an imposing figure, in the Chelsea goal.
Steve Bruce threw on an extra striker for the last five minutes with Henri Camara back in the fold after spending all last season on loan at West Ham.
But it was midfielder Kapo who almost made it a fairytale ending for the Latics. He came off the bench to replace Palacios and forced a top-quality save from Cech with a fierce strike from 25 yards.
Wigan Athletic Team
Chelsea Team
Wigan Athletic | Chelsea |
Corners
| 7 | 7 |
Fouls
| 13 | 17 |
Goal attempts
| 10 | 7 |
Shots off target
| 4 | 4 |
Offsides
| 1 | 6 |
89mins
Kapo fired a free kick straight at the Chelsea wall.