Chelsea collected their first win in five Premier League outings on Monday, but were pushed all the way by Wolves en route to a 2-1 victory.

Ramires edged the Blues in front, but they required a dramatic late effort from Frank Lampard to see them to three points after Stephen Ward had levelled for the hosts.

Fernando Torres was offered another opportunity to lead the Chelsea line but, despite being full of running, he was unable to start 2012 any better than he ended 2011.

It was, in fact, Wolves who came closest to breaking the deadlock during a first half that produced five yellow cards.

Roger Johnson rose highest to meet a free-kick and his towering header cannoned off the outside of the post.

Chelsea started the second half much brighter and their effort was rewarded on 54 minutes when Wolves failed to deal with a corner and the loose ball dropped for Ramires to lash high into the roof of the net.

Mick McCarthy's men refused to lie down, though, and restored parity six minutes from time when Stephen Ward swept home from 12 yards.

It appeared as though that would be enough to see Wolves take a share of the spoils, but Lampard popped up in the final minute to bundle home a pin-point cross from Ashley Cole.

Sharp
Andre Villas-Boas would have taken heart from the performance of Torres, who started in the absence of the injured Didier Drogba and Daniel Sturridge.

The former Liverpool player looked sharp and committed throughout the 90 minutes and there were signs of him returning to his best.

Juan Mata also impressed in the centre of the park but Wolves' battling spirit meant they were always in contention with winger Adam Hammill causing plenty of problems.

An early slip by Jose Bosingwa allowed David Edwards a shot at goal inside the first 20 seconds but it lacked power and Petr Cech was able to save comfortably low to his right.

A mix-up between Wolves defenders Christophe Berra and Ward allowed Torres to play in Mata but his cross-shot failed to hit the target.

Torres was looking confident despite not scoring since 23rd October and picked out the run into the box of Lampard.

It needed Richard Stearman to make a fine tackle to deny the England midfielder a clear-cut chance.

Booked

Lampard became the first player to be booked, for a sliding tackle on Hammill. The Wolves winger also went into referee Peter Walton's notebook for his challenge on Ashley Cole.

Wolves midfielder Karl Henry was booked for tripping Torres on the edge of his box. Then Doyle was cautioned after throwing the ball at Cole after he had been upended by the England left-back.

Hammill's free-kick was perfectly flighted for Johnson, whose header flicked the post.

It became five yellow cards in eight minutes when Oriol Romeu brought down Hammill, who took the free-kick himself. Edwards found himself unmarked six yards out but directed his header past the post.

Chelsea ended the first half on the offensive with Hennessey turning aside Bosingwa's powerful drive.

Wolves boss McCarthy made a half-time substitution with winger Matt Jarvis replacing Anthony Forde.

The home side were still looking dangerous on the counter-attack and Jarvis' pace took him past Bosingwa before his cross fell to Hammill 15 yards out.

He kept his volley down but it bounced up invitingly for Cech who saved away to his right.

Challenge

Ramires put the Blues in front in the 54th minute. John Terry attacked a Mata corner but managed only the slightest of touches and the ball broke to the Brazilian, who held off Ward's challenge before lashing the ball into the roof of the net for his sixth goal of the campaign.

The Chelsea players celebrated on the touchline with Villas-Boas and the coaching staff.

McCarthy responded by bringing on eight-goal leading scorer Steven Fletcher for debutant Emmanuel Frimpong.

Ramires teed up an opportunity for Torres but, under pressure, he dragged his volley well wide.

Hennessey needed to be alert to block an attempt from Raul Meireles, Stearman produced a crucial challenge to halt the impressive Torres inside the box, before Mata fired into the side-netting.

Ward brought Wolves level in the 84th minute after Fletcher turned a deep cross from Jarvis back into his path.

However, Lampard won it for Chelsea five minutes later after Torres had found Cole in space to deliver the telling cross - although they needed Cech's heroics in the fourth minute of injury time to preserve all three points.

Teams

Wolverhampton Wanderers  Hennessey, Stearman, Johnson, Berra, Ward, Hammill, Henry, Frimprong (Fletcher 61), Forde (Jarvis 45), Edwards (Foley 76), Doyle
Subs Not Used  Elokobi, De Vries, Hunt, Ebanks-Blake
Booked  Hammill, Henry, Doyle
Goals  Ward 84

Chelsea  Cech, Bosingwa, Luiz, Terry, Cole, Meireles, Romeu, Lampard, Ramires, Torres, Mata (McEacran 83)
Subs Not Used  Turnbull, Ferreira, Hutchinson, Bertrand, Chalobah, Lukaku
Booked  Lampard, Romeu
Goals Ramires 54, Lampard 89

Attendance  27,289