toptop

Chelsea cruised to a 2-0 victory at Wigan to close the gap on leaders Arsenal and Manchester United to three points, and leave The Latics in the relegation zone.

The Blues have started to play with the swagger and style that Avram Grant promised in recent weeks, and Wigan could not contain them in an opening 20 minute period that proved decisive.

Frank Lampard kept up his superb form as he turned in Shaun Wright-Phillips cross after 11 minutes, before Juliano Belletti struck a swerving shot past Chris Kirkland from outside the area seven minutes later.

Wigan battled hard in the second half to get back into the game and were perhaps unlucky not to at least pull back one goal, but they slipped to a sixth successive defeat as Chelsea stood firm.

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 Petr Cech soon after.

Quick feet

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 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.

Florent Malouda missed a decent chance to make it three when he completely mis-hit Belletti's curling cross from six yards, while Jason 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.

Panic

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 Ricardo Carvalho in attendance but it looked neither a foul nor inside the area.

The hosts continued to put their opponents under pressure, Michael Brown's skiddy 56th-minute shot needing a well-timed block from Alex to protect Cech.

It then 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.

Teams

Wigan Athletic  Kirkland, Bramble, Granqvist, Melchiot, Scharner, Brown (Skoko 85), Kilbane, Koumas, Landzaat (Sibierski 82), Valencia, Bent
Subs Not Used Pollitt, Boyce, Aghahowa
Booked Landzaat, Bramble
Goals 

Chelsea Cech, Alex, Belletti, Bridge, Carvalho, Essien (Sidwell 76), Lampard, Malouda, Mikel, Wright-Phillips, Drogba (Kalou 75)
Subs Not Used Cudicini, Ben-Haim, Shevchenko
Booked Drogba
Goals  Lampard 11, Belletti 18

Attendance 19,011

Referee  S. Bennett