football.co.uk web
skip to content
Chelsea are top of the Premier League table after this hard fought 1-0 win against a battling Wigan Athletic side.
Kapo fired a free kick straight at the Chelsea wall.
Anelka makes way for Malouda.
Kapo unleashes a great strike that Cech does brilliantly to tip over the bar.
Steve Bruce is going for it as Camara comes on for Melchiot.
Bridge is on for Ashley Cole - who looks injured.
De Ridder sliced his shot wide of the target.
Zaki went on a strong run and his cross was cleared for a corner by Carvalho.
Palacios is replaced by Kapo for Wigan.
Cattermole's long range shot flew wide of the target.
Terry blocked Palacios shot from the edge of the box.
Carvalho was cautioned for a trip on Zaki.
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.
Pollitt was forced into action after Essien fired in a shot from the edge of the area.
Kalou tried his luck from 35 yards out but Cattermole did well to block the shot.
Joe Cole makes way for Kalou.
De Ridder's near post corner was hacked clear by Bosingwa.
De Ridder did well to win the ball in a challenge with Deco. The former Birmingham midfielder had originally lost possession.
Lampard's driven cross was deflected wide for a corner to Chelsea.
The second half hasn't started as quickly as the first ended. Terry is down and getting treatment.
Cattermole is booked for a late tackle on Essien.
Wigan boss Steve Bruce has brought on De Ridder for the injured Koumas.
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.
Koumas' floated free kick into the Chelsea box was well held by Cech.
Alan Wiley waves play on after Palacios appeared to bring down Anelka in the penalty area.
Pollitt came off his line to smother the ball after Anelka raced clear from Joe Cole's flick on.
Anelka headed wide of the target after a good cross by Ashley Cole.
Anelka chipped the ball to the back-post looking for Ballack, but Palacios did well to head clear.
Joe Cole's shot from 25 yards is charged down by Bramble.
Wigan are continuing to force the pace and Deco did well to clear with Koumas on the attack.
Good build up play by Wigan ended with Zaki having a snapshot that Cech did well to save.
The Wigan supporters screamed for a penalty after Cech appeared to push Boyce - but the referee waved play on.
Ashley Cole tried his luck from 20 yards but blazed his shot across the Wigan goalmouth.
Wigan are keeping Chelsea out at the back. Anelka is caught offside.
Carvalho headed over the Wigan bar from Lampard's corner.
Cech almost made a hash of a cross by Koumas - but managed to gather the ball at the second attempt.
Terry is the first man into ref Alan Wiley's notebook after a foul on Heskey.
Koumas' free kick into the Chelsea box was just too high for Heskey. Wigan haven't given this one up though.
Another good save by Cech after Koumas played in Zaki.
Wigan have responded well to going behind and Cech had to be alert to palm away Palacios' drive.
Great goal by Deco. The Portugal midfielder curls home a free kick from the edge of the area. No chance for Pollitt.
Essien did well to snuff out a Wigan attack as Palacios broke with Koumas in support.
Referee Alan Wiley gets the game underway in a half empty JJB stadium.
Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole, Ballack, Essien, Lampard, Deco, Anelka, Joe Cole
Essien replaces Obi Mikel in midfield for Chelsea, but there's still no place for Drogba who has a knee injury.
Wigan: Pollitt, Melchiot, Boyce, Bramble, Figueroa, Valencia, Cattermole, Palacios, Koumas, Heskey, Zaki
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.
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.
Corners
Fouls
Goal attempts
Shots off target
Offsides
advertisement
football.co.uk