03/02/2007  Charlton 0 Chelsea 1
 
Chelsea closed to within three points of Barclays Premiership leaders Manchester United - but were made to work for their 1-0 win over relegation-battlers Charlton.

Frank Lampard's fine long-range effort midway through the first half - an eighth goal in as many matches for the England midfielder - proved enough to settle matters at The Valley.

While the Blues were good value for their second Premiership win of the week, Alan Pardew's men had spells of dominance.

However, without injured leading marksman Darren Bent - set to return later this month - they lacked the class to really trouble Petr Cech, who twice saved well from Amady Faye in the second half.

The late appearance of England captain John Terry after being sidelined since mid-December with a back injury will have given the Blues renewed hope for a title race which looks set to go to the wire, with United at Tottenham on Sunday.

Chelsea had started well, and after a brief rally by the home side, the champions slowly upped the tempo.

Charlton defender Hermann Hreidarsson mistimed his jump to clear a high ball, which saw possession break for Andriy Shevchenko on the right side of the penalty area.

The Ukrainian striker riffled in an angled drive, which England squad keeper Scott Carson turned away magnificently from point-blank range.

German midfielder Michael Ballack then saw his diving header fly wide following a left-wing cross from Wayne Bridge.

The goal eventually came on 18 minutes.

Charlton again failed to clear on the edge of their own box and Shevchenko out-muscled Faye and tapped the ball back to Lampard.

The England midfielder set himself before unleashing a stunning drive across Carson into the bottom left corner.

It could have been 2-0 soon after when Shevchenko headed over another good cross from Bridge.

Chelsea were in complete control now, the atmosphere inside The Valley subdued.

Didier Drogba sent in a low strike from 30 yards, which Carson saved at his left-hand post.

On 23 minutes, though, Blues keeper Cech had to back-pedal to touch over a looping ball into the area from Talal El Karkouri.

Cech then had to soon scramble down to his right to collect a low, 25-yard free-kick from Addicks skipper Matt Holland.

With winger Dennis Rommedahl pushed up into attack, the home side were at least seeing more possession now, if without making the most of some positive build-up.

Chelsea, though, still looked dangerous, Drogba lashing an angled drive high into the stands.

In stoppage time, Carson had to beat away Lampard's fiercely-hit long range free-kick.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink - who left Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2004 to join Middlesbrough - replaced Rommedahl for the second half.

Despite the change in formation from Charlton, the visitors continued to look in control when play resumed.

And when the hosts slowly started to mount a sustained period of pressure, just as in the first half, they lacked a telling pass in the final third.

As the hour mark passed, The Valley faithful were back in full voice.

Winger Jerome Thomas was dangerous down the left, but again could not deliver a decent ball in from the flank.

Chelsea were awarded a free-kick 35 yards out when Faye was adjudged to have bundled over Shevchenko.

This time Lampard's effort flew well wide.

Charlton full-back Ben Thatcher had to hack clear from in front of his own goal when the England midfielder sent over a low cross with 26 minutes left.

Charlton were now enjoying their best spell of the game, but yet without really troubling the visitors' defence.

Suddenly Faye burst into the penalty area and sent a first-time shot towards the top-right corner - which somehow Cech managed to finger-tip over.

Midfielder Faye - who scored at Portsmouth last month - was put in down the right, with Cech standing up well at his near post to make the save.

Chelsea substitute Salomon Kalou almost made it 2-0 immediately after coming on with 16 minutes to go when his shot came back off the post following Drogba's cross from the left.

Carson then saved well low from fellow Blues replacement Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Hasselbaink sent a 25-yard free-kick over, and Charlton saw their mini revival come to an end - with Carson making another fine save late on to deny Wright-Phillips.

Terry replaced Claude Makelele for the closing moments - much to the delight of the Chelsea fans.