26/11/2005  Portsmouth 0 Chelsea 2
 
Frank Lampard marked a record 160th consecutive Premiership appearance with the controversial second-half penalty which set the seal on Chelsea's cruise to victory on the south coast.

After Hernan Crespo had opened the scoring for the league leaders, the England midfielder stroked the ball home from the spot following Dejan Stefanovic's challenge on Joe Cole.

It brought an end to a tumultuous week for Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric, who must now dry his eyes over the loss of his close friend George Best and begin to count the cost of employing a new manager.

But there at least there was promise in Pompey's display three days after the sacking of French manager Alain Perrin and as they face the prospect of trips to Manchester United and Tottenham in the next two weeks.

Mandaric is said to be willing to offer Sheffield United's Neil Warnock a generous salary to desert the Blades and move south.

And if Warnock does jump ship, he will not lack support from a passionate home support who sang the name of Best, who often accompanied Mandaric in the directors box at Fratton Park, during the supposed minute's silence in honour of the Manchester United legend.

Another United old boy, caretaker manager Joe Jordan, had clearly wound up his troops to put themselves about against the champions and delighted the locals with a return to a more orthodox 4-4-2 line-up. He also left out the enigmatic Laurent Robert altogether.

To further boost ailing Pompey, Lomana Lualua's first-half performance made it look as though he had toothache rather than malaria last month.

His 18th-minute shot, which had Petr Cech diving and touching the ball over the top after Dario Silva had headed on, deserved better - as did some of the scintillating runs by the Congo striker.

Silva, the Uruguay star who went AWOL last week after international duty, was chosen as Lualua's partner and was a lively presence as well in the first half even if Chelsea were in cruise control for most of the time.

Despite Pompey's efforts, the Londoners only had to wait until the 27th minute for the opening goal which was achieved with the minimum of simplicity by a team who know they have a long, crowded season to fulfil.

Lampard, apparently one of only three Chelsea players wearing a black armband as a mark of respect for Best, played a square pass for full-back Paulo Ferreira to hit.

And although it was a fairly tame effort from 25 yards, Crespo popped up behind Pompey's back four to divert it past Jamie Ashdown for his sixth goal this season.

Before then only a Damien Duff drive had worried the goalkeeper but he got down well to save well to save in the 16th minute.

Crespo, again preferred to Didier Drogba who was not even on the bench, did not last the first half, though. He began limping painfully, clutching his back and ribs and was replaced eight minutes before the break by Carlton Cole.

By then coach Jose Mourinho had attracted the ire of referee Phil Dowd, complaining on the touchline after Richard Hughes had escaped a card for his second crunching foul on Michael Essien.

That came just before Crespo's nimble touch for the goal which, momentarily, at least quietened the Pompey fans who got behind their managerless side right from the start.

But as the second half dissolved into a litany of hard tackles and a collection of bookings, Chelsea just kept a lid on control with their usual ruthless efficiency.

Pompey did not lack for application but eventually Lampard clinched victory with a faultless penalty after Cole had tumbled over Stefanovic's tackle - much to the fury of home players and fans alike.

Jordan raised another cheer by bringing on fans' favourite Svetoslav Todorov as a second-half substitute but there was no fairytale ending for the Bulgarian whose goals brought Pompey up from the old Division One in 2003.

Put through by Lualua right at the end he blazed a golden opportunity over the bar and, as expected, soon the points were on their way back to west London.