Chelsea 2-1 Wigan

Frank Lampard kept Chelsea's title hopes alive with a stoppage-time winner against Wigan.

John Terry had put Guus Hiddink's side in front in the 25th minute with a thunderous volley but Olivier Kapo looked to have killed of Chelsea's title hopes with an 82nd-minute equaliser.

But England midfielder Lampard headed a vital winner to put Chelsea into second place on goal difference above rivals Liverpool.

But Chelsea remain seven points behind leaders Manchester United, who have a game in hand on the Blues.

The contest began with a flurry of niggling challenges but referee Lee Probert refused to issue a yellow card until Chelsea defender Alex lunged at Paul Scharner in the ninth minute.

The niggling fouls continued to interrupt the football and Probert found himself having quiet words with Michael Ballack and Wigan's Michael Brown after the pair clashed off the ball.

Chelsea had goalkeeper Petr Cech to thank for keeping them on level terms in the 17th minute.

Mario Melchiot's ball was helped on by Amr Zaki to put Scharner clean through with just Cech to beat.

However, the Wigan midfielder saw his low shot pushed around the post by the Czech Republic international.

Moments later Terry was booked for a foul on Zaki as Wigan continued to press for an opener.

Chelsea then survived a double scare when Ashley Cole cleared a Titus Bramble header off the line and Terry did likewise seconds later with a Charles N'Zogbia shot.

But Chelsea hit back and Chris Kirkland saved superbly to deny John Obi Mikel.

The Nigerian midfielder let fly with a 25-yard shot that Kirkland did well to tip over the crossbar.

But Chelsea went ahead against the run of play in the 25th minute. Emmerson Boyce partially cleared a cross by Lampard and captain Terry smashed home a volley on the edge of the penalty area to become the highest scoring defender in the club's history.

Lee Cattermole was lucky to escape with just a yellow card in the 28th minute when he left Mikel writhing on the ground with a reckless challenge.

Chelsea were now dominant for the first time in the game and Nicolas Anelka was just wide with a header from Lampard's 31st-minute corner.

Chelsea should have gone further ahead in the 35th minute but Lampard failed to finish when found superbly in the area by Salomon Kalou.

Lampard's shot was kept out by Kirkland and Michael Ballack was then deemed offside when his header from the rebound was cleared off the line by Bramble.

A shot from Didier Drogba was well-saved by Kirkland but when the ball rolled out to Terry, the Chelsea captain was too high with his shot.

In the 43rd minute Kapo brought down Drogba and Lampard tried his luck with the free-kick even though it was some 40 yards from Kirkland's goal.

However, the England midfielder managed to lift the ball over the defensive wall and get it to bounce awkwardly in front of the Wigan goalkeeper.

In the 47th minute, a long ball by Terry was handled by Bramble as Drogba looked to cash-in.

Bramble atoned for his error though minutes later when Lampard put Drogba in the clear.

The Ivorian striker's shot beat the advancing Kirkland but the retreating Bramble acrobatically cleared the goalbound effort.
Wigan were finding it hard to keep pace with Chelsea but they occasionally managed to threaten.

In the 61st minute Cattermole sent a low drive wide of the target from 20 yards but generally, they could not rekindle the form they displayed in the early stages of the game.

The biggest cheer of the second half arrived when Chelsea fans learned of Middlesbrough's second goal against Liverpool.

New caretaker boss Hiddink had complained that Chelsea tired in the second half of their Champions League win over Juventus and there were similar signs as Wigan began to find more space in midfield.

A quick break in the 68th minute ended with the visitors winning a free-kick 25 yards from goal.

But substitute Hugo Rodallega's effort was charged down by Chelsea's defensive wall.

In the 78th minute Wigan wasted a chance to equalise when a cross from Maynor Figueroa was headed over by Scharner.

Seconds later Zaki sent a curling effort just wide as Chelsea faded badly.

The inevitable happened in the 82nd minute when Figueroa's cross was turned in by Kapo at the near post.

But with three minutes of injury time to be played, a long clearance was flicked on by Ballack and Lampard got ahead of Melchiot to loop a header over Kirkland for the winner.

RTE