01/02/2004  Blackburn 2 Chelsea 3
 
Glen Johnson smashed home a last-gasp winner for Chelsea just as Blackburn thought they had snatched a point at Ewood Park.

The full-back struck with a fierce 88th-minute drive, just seconds after Rovers substitute Paul Gallagher had levelled, to win a Premiership contest the visitors had dominated but not killed off.

But if Johnson stole the headlines, it was team-mate Frank Lampard who caught the eye as he served new boy Scott Parker with a timely reminder that he will have to fight for his place.

Lampard, one of the men currently ahead of £10million Parker in the England reckoning, capped a fine individual display with two well-taken first-half strikes to take his tally for the season to 10.

Parker enjoyed a satisfactory debut before being replaced after 68 minutes, but it Lampard and Claude Makelele who drove Chelsea's fightback after Garry Flitcroft's third-minute opener.

Lampard levelled on 25 minutes from a Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink cross and then latched on to Emmanuel Petit's pass to fire his second past Brad Friedel 10 minutes later.

Only a breathtaking 80th-minute save from the American denied him a hat-trick, although that came after Gallagher had seen what he thought was an equaliser chalked off for offside.

The visitors were good value for their win, which keeps them firmly in third place, while Rovers may have to start looking over their shoulders as they wait for a first win in 2004.

Chelsea arrived with a swagger having included the latest addition to their expensively-assembled squad, but if the travelling fans thought it was going to be a cakewalk, they soon realised otherwise.

With barely two minutes on the clock, Carlo Cudicini was called upon to make a vital save as Jonathon Douglas met Brett Emerton's swerving cross with a firm shot.

However, the visitors did not heed the early warning, and within seconds, were behind.

Rovers' own new boy Michael Gray lofted a deep cross towards Markus Babbel and when he sent a header back across goal, Flitcroft sweetly volleyed past the stranded Cudicini.

Chelsea, who had started with Petit in a deep midfield holding role and Parker and Makelele either side of Lampard, needed to reshuffle to add steel in the middle of the park and curtail Emerton's influence. They did so by pushing the Frenchman out to the left, Parker on to the right and asking Makelele to sit in front of the back four.

They immediately started to look a different proposition as Lampard and Makelele in particular got the bit between their teeth, and on 25 minutes, they finally got their reward.

Hasselbaink burst into the penalty area from the right and looked up before pulling the ball back for the fast-arriving Lampard to pass it into the net off the foot of the post.

The Dutchman should really have made it 2-1 eight minutes later when he met Petit's cross unmarked and headed over, but his side did not have to wait much longer to go in front.

Tugay's misplaced pass put Chelsea on the front foot and Petit took full advantage by sliding a perfectly-weighted pass to Lampard, who finished with some aplomb as Friedel vainly attempted to stop him.

The signs were not good for the home side as the second half got under way with Adrian Mutu in particular shining.

Mutu, who had endured a quiet first half, saw a 51st-minute volley fly wide after Babbel had blocked a Hasselbaink shot, but Friedel was left helpless seconds later when the Romanian chipped him from just outside the box and saw the ball drop agonisingly past the post.

Rovers were struggling to keep their heads above water and manager Graeme Souness opted for change on 56 minutes when he replaced the peripheral Dwight Yorke and Douglas with Gallagher and Alan Mahon, but his side looked to be fighting a losing battle.

However, they thought they had dragged themselves back into it on 65 minutes when the two substitutes combined, Gallagher flicking Mahon's cross over Cudicini into the net only to be given offside.

Parker's afternoon came to an end when he was replaced by Jesper Gronkjaer, and within seconds of him leaving the pitch, Friedel had to tip a dipping Mutu free-kick over the bar.

Lampard might have wrapped the points up 10 minutes from time with a header from Gronkjaer's cross, but Friedel pulled off a magnificent one-handed save.

Gallagher took full advantage of the keeper's heroics three minutes from time when he arrived at the far post to thump Tugay's cross past Cudicini from a tight angle, but Johnson's piledriver seconds later snatched a point from the home side's grasp.