Wigan Athletic vs Chelsea
Match pulse
WGAAttacking pressure by 5 minutes
Who won: Chelsea 1-0
Chelsea beat Wigan Athletic 1-0 on Sunday, August 14, 2005 at The JJB Stadium. Goals for Chelsea: Hernán Crespo (90'+3').
Play by play
- 93'
FULL-TIME: Chelsea snatch victory with almost the final kick of the game. Wigan will be desperately upset, but they can be fantastically proud of their effort in their Premiership debut.
- 93'
Mourinho wanders over to opposite number Jewell, and embraces him. He seems to be offering the Wigan boss a few words of comfort and respect; a great show of sportsmanship from the Chelsea manager.
- 92'
GOAL! Heartbreak for Wigan, as Crespo collects the ball on the edge of the area, cuts on to his left foot and fires an unstoppable shot in to the top corner of the net.
- 91'
Chelsea win a free-kick, 30 yards out. Lampard fires a low shot against the wall, and Wigan break. Teale clips the ball in to an unmarked Mahon, but his first-time volley is high over the bar.
- 90'
Oooh! Wigan almost snatch all the points at the death; Roberts breaks down the left, spots Johansson free through the middle, but the substitute's right-foot effort is dragged wide of the far post.
- 89'
SWP swaps wings with Cole and tries his luck on the left, but Chimbonda, one of the stars for Wigan this afternoon, stands strong and robs the Chelsea winger.
- 88'
A Gallas mistake gifts Wigan a late corner, though Bullard's centre is headed clear by the Chelsea defence.
- 87'
Wigan chairman Dave Whelan looks on proudly from the Director's box. He will be so proud of his side, and it should give them real belief that they can stay up this season.
- 86'
Mahon wins a throw, deep in the Chelsea half. The Wigan players take a breather as the pressure is relieved for a moment or two.
- 85'
SUB: Camara off, Johansson on. Camara has run himself ragged, especially in the second half. He is replaced by a Swedish international, who has taken his place in midfield.
- 84'
SWp collects a ball down the line from Ferreira and fires a low ball in to the middle, but De Zeeuw is again on hand to volley the ball out of play.
- 83'
Chimbonda waves his arms to urge the fans to get behind their side in the final stages, and the Wigan faithful respond with a goos-pimpling roar.
- 82'
Wigan almost shocked the Champions there with a late goal. They haven't deserved to win this match, but they certainly will not be lucky to take a point off the Champions.
- 81'
...Teale collects the ball from the throw, gets to the by-line, clips over a cross to the far post, but Roberts' header bounces off the top of the crossbar and out of play.
- 80'
A mistake from Terry almost lets in Teale down the right, but the ball runs out for a throw...
- 79'
...Lampard clips the ball in to the middle, where it is met by Terry, but the England defender can only plant his header straight at Pollit.
- 79'
Cole wins a corner for his side when his attempted cross is deflected behind...
- 78'
SWP wins a free-kick when he is hauled back as he attempts to break on the counter-attack. He will continue to be the danger man as the game enters the final minutes.
- 76'
The Chelsea players look to be getting a little frustrated; they are giving away a couple of niggling and unnecessary fouls as they tussle to win the ball back.
- 75'
Camara and Roberts have been excellent up front for Wigan this afternoon; as the game enters its final stages, they are doing their very best to hold the ball up and relieve the pressure on their defence.
- 74'
Amazingly, Wigan are still throwing men forward when they win the ball. As De Zeeuw breaks up the attack in his own area, Bullard and Mahon charge forward to support Roberts and Camara.
- 73'
SWP breaks down the right, cuts the ball back towards Crespo but De Zeeuw again slides in to block any attempt by the Argentine striker.
- 72'
Wigan are beginning to come back in to the game a little, as Chelsea press forward looking for a winner. Roberts fires a shot wide of Cech's far post, and the visitors need to be careful not to concede an embarrassing late goal.
- 70'
Chelsea break down the right. Lampard's low cross evades a couple of Wigan defenders, but Chimbonda is alert enough to block Crespo's attempted shot on the six-yard line.
- 69'
Every time Wigan win a throw or a free-kick, the fans unleash an almighty cheer; they will be so proud to see their side holding the Champions.
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