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Chelsea Misses Chance With Draw At Wigan
Stuart Condie | December 18, 2011

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London. Chelsea missed the chance to put pressure on the Manchester clubs at the top of the English Premier League on Saturday, conceding with two minutes remaining to draw 1-1 at relegation-threatened Wigan.

Despite a poor performance, Chelsea looked on course for a fourth straight Premier League win when Daniel Sturridge scored his eighth goal of the season in the 59th minute. But Wigan dominated the second half and Jordi Gomez tapped in from close range after a mistake by Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech.

Sturridge put Chelsea ahead with a close-range finish from Ashley Cole’s pass and Wigan seemed unable to breach a defense good enough to help the Blues hand Manchester City its first defeat of the Premier League season on Monday.

But Cech fumbled a weak effort from Hugo Rodallega and Gomez guided the ball into an empty net for his fourth goal in five games.

The result left Chelsea with 32 points from 16 matches, four behind second-place Manchester United and six behind longtime leader City.

“It is a disappointing result,” Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas said.

“It was a hard-fought game with many chances on both sides, maybe more from Wigan. They fought hard to get the result here. I think Wigan had the momentum and the crowd was behind them and they got the goal they deserved, 1-1 was a fair result.”

The draw left Wigan in the relegation zone with Blackburn and Bolton, which remained anchored to the bottom of the Premier League after a 2-0 loss at Fulham

Two weeks after becoming the most prolific American scorer in England’s top division, Fulham forward Clint Dempsey scored his 38th Premier League goal (and fifth this season) with a 32nd-minute header from Bryan Ruiz’s cross.

Dempsey has eight goals in all competitions this season and three in his last four games.

“He scores so many goals,” Fulham manager Martin Jol said. “I’m very happy with him.”

Fulham left Bolton with only nine points from 16 games, one fewer than a Blackburn side that lost 2-1 against visiting West Bromwich Albion.

Associated Press