Wigan 0-2 Chelsea
- Published
Eden Hazard made an impressive Premier League debut for Chelsea as they held off a tenacious Wigan side to win 2-0.
The Belgian midfielder turned neatly before sending Branislav Ivanovic clear to sidefoot in the first.
Hazard was then felled for the penalty which allowed Frank Lampard to double Chelsea's lead after just six minutes.
But Wigan's Victor Moses twice tested Chelsea keeper Petr Cech while Jordi Gomez headed one chance off target before screwing a volley wide late on.
Moses started for the Latics despite manager Roberto Martinez suggesting that his 21-year-old striker could be unsettled by ongoing speculation linking him with a move to Chelsea.
The Nigerian, who scored six goals last season, produced a terrific performance to show why Wigan value him at £8.5m and why Chelsea are interested in acquiring him.
He teased and beat England left-back Ashley Cole on numerous occasions in the first half, switching wings to do the same to Ivanovic in the second.
However, by that point, Chelsea were already 2-0 in front with Hazard, who linked up well with Lampard and produced several neat touches before he was substituted midway through the second half, heavily involved in both goals.
His first telling contribution was to collect a pass from Lampard in the centre circle and sharply spin away from Ivan Ramis before playing a straightforward through-ball into the path of Ivanovic. The Serbian then strolled into the penalty box and beat Ali Al Habsi at his near post with a low shot.
Wigan debutant Ramis's afternoon took another turn for the worse when he clumsily lunged at Hazard to give away a penalty, which Lampard fired low under Al Habsi's dive.
But any thoughts that Chelsea may replicate their 6-0 victory over Wigan at the DW Stadium in 2010 were quickly extinguished.
Hazard's reward was to be clattered from behind by Gary Caldwell, a vicious tackle that earned the Wigan captain a yellow card.
The incident seemed to rouse Wigan though, and they went on to dominate large chunks of play and more than matched Chelsea with Maynor Figueroa, Emmerson Boyce and Moses at the centre of their better work.
However, they created few clear-cut chances and their tactic of sending a barrage of crosses into the Chelsea box failed to unsettle experienced centre-backs David Luiz and John Terry.
Second-half substitutes Gomez and Arouna Kone added impetus for the Latics, the former seeing a deflected free-kick well saved by Cech while Ivorian Kone headed narrowly wide.
But the goal Wigan's endeavours deserved failed to materialise and they were indebted to Ramis for keeping the deficit at two when he atoned to a degree for his earlier failings by clearing a Fernando Torres effort off the line.
It would have been easy for Torres to go down looking for a penalty under Ramis's initial challenge but to the striker's credit he toe-poked the ball beyond Al Habsi while stumbling forward, only to see his fellow Spaniard scamper back and knock the ball to safety.
- Published19 August 2012
- Published17 August 2012
- Published17 August 2012
- Published19 August 2012