Deco fires Chelsea to Premiership summit

Wigan 0-1 Chelsea

A Deco free-kick after three minutes was enough for Luis Felipe Scolari’s Chelsea to make it two wins from two at the start of the Premier League season, as they overcame Wigan1-0 at the JJB Stadium on Sunday.

Although Chelsea were a far cry from the spectacular team which dispatched of Portsmouth a week earlier, they did what was needed against a tough opponent.

The Blues couldn’t have wished for a better start as Lee Cattermole handled 25 yards out. Boosted by a fantastic performance a week earlier up stepped Deco to strike home and give Chelsea the lead.

Many would have expected them to build on this on push on to claim another big victory, but the truth was that Chelsea struggled to penetrate the Wigan defence and had to deal with several close calls at their own end.

Watertight defence

Full back Jose Bosingwa made his second appearance for the blues, alongside fellow Portuguese international Ricardo Carvalho in a defence that has now not conceded in the sides opening two fixtures of the campaign.

Other than the goal Deco, much like the rest of his team-mates, failed to shine to the level he did on his debut.

But this didn’t stop Scolari finding words of praise for his player, after the match. Scolari said: “Deco is an intelligent boy. Why is he one of the best in the world? Because he is very clever. It was a very good goal.”

Chelsea now sit at the top of the league with a maximum six points from two games, Alongside fellow title challengers Liverpool they are the only two teams to take maximum points from their opening two games.

Next up for Scolari’s Chelsea is Juande Ramos’ under-performing Tottenham – who have lost their opening two fixtures – at Stamford Bridge next Sunday.

Wigan:
Pollitt, Melchiot (Camara 85), Boyce, Bramble, Figueroa, Valencia, Cattermole, Palacios (Kapo 80), Koumas (De Ridder 46), Heskey, Zaki
Yellow Cards: Cattermole

Chelsea:
Cech, Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole (Bridge 83), Ballack, Essien, Lampard, Deco, Anelka (Malouda 89), Joe Cole (Kalou 58)
Yellow Cards: Terry, Carvalho

Goals:
[0-1] Deco, 4