Didier Drogba came off the bench to score and lead Chelsea to a hard-fought 1-0 home victory over Newcastle United to narrow the gap on Premiership leaders Manchester United. English champions Chelsea are in second place of the league table with 39 points, five behind United. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho started with an unfamiliar frontline of Arjen Robben, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Salomon Kalou to rest his key players following Sunday's 1-1 draw with Arsenal. Wright-Phillips should have opened the score as early as the third minute when he latched on to Kalou's pass inside the 6-yards box but fired poorly wide with the goal at his mercy.
Adebayor Newcastle's Antoine Sibierski responded in the 16th minute when his header struck the bar. Mourinho introduced Drogba instead of Wright-Phillips in a bid to break the deadlock against the stubborn Magpies. The Ivory Coast international rewarded his manager after scoring the opener in the 74th minute. He connected with Andrei Shevchenko's misdirected shot to slot home from close range. Elsewhere, Arsenal needed a last-gasp strike from Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor to edge past Wigan 1-0. The victory put Gunners third with 29 points while Wigan lie in the 11th spot on 22 points.
