A Petr Cech blunder brought Chelsea’s recent revival to a halt yesterday as relegation-threatened Wigan snatched a late 1-1 draw against the Londoners.

Third-placed Chelsea appeared to be coasting to a victory which would have seen them move to within four points of leaders Manchester City after Daniel Sturridge’s 59th-minute strike put them 1-0 up at the DW Stadium.

But with just two minutes of normal time remaining, Cech made a dreadful hash as he stooped to gather Hugo Rodallega’s low cross and Spanish midfielder Jordi Gomez was on hand to jab home the equaliser.

It was a bitterly disappointing outcome for Chelsea, who had beaten leaders Manchester City last week and who looked to be heading for a fourth consecutive league victory after Sturridge’s goal.

In earlier games yesterday, Bolton’s grim slide continued as Owen Coyle’s team crashed to a fifth consecutive loss with a 2-0 defeat at Fulham.

Bolton’s hopes of bagging a crucial three points were effectively ended midway through the first half at Craven Cottage as Fulham went 2-0 up courtesy of goals from Clint Dempsey and Bryan Ruiz.

Dempsey fired Fulham ahead on 32 minutes, the American international heading home after a fine run and cross from Ruiz.

Moments later Ruiz made it 2-0 after latching on to Dempsey’s pass before chipping over Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Coyle later bemoaned his team’s failure to make the most of a bright start.

“We have let the opportunity pass us by and it’s getting repetitive saying the same things,” Coyle said.

“It’s not like we are five or six games into the season. We’ve made some mistakes and we are in real dogfight now. Players must show passion and be ready to give better performances.”

Bolton’s Lancashire rivals Blackburn also remain anchored in the relegation mire after crashing to a 2-1 defeat at home to West Bromwich Albion, their sixth loss from eight home games this term.

West Brom’s James Morrison fired the visitors ahead on 53 minutes, lashing in a volley from the edge of the area after Steven N’Zonzi failed to clear.

Morrison’s strike was the cue for a chorus of boos as Rovers miserable season continued before defender Scott Dann bundled in an equaliser on 72 minutes to get Blackburn back on level terms.

Yet just as it looked as if Rovers had salvaged a point, Peter Odemwingie curled in a long-range winner on 89 minutes to make it 2-1.

The defeat was met with angry boos from Rovers fans, who have been demanding the dismissal of embattled manager Steve Kean.

Kean, however, insisted he would not bow to the pressure as his team prepare for a six-pointer against Bolton on Tuesday.

“The owners are fully behind me but I am sure they like the players, the staff and fans are disappointed,” he said.

“We want to be winning games especially at home and it makes our next game (at home to Bolton) massive if it wasn’t massive already.”

Elsewhere, Stoke fought back from 1-0 down to snatch a 2-1 victory over Wolves at Molineux.

Stephen Hunt fired Wolves ahead with a penalty on 16 minutes but Stoke hit back with a Kevin Doyle own goal before Peter Crouch scrambled in the winner on 70 minutes.

Promoted Norwich, meanwhile, continued their impressive run of form with a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park against Everton.

Grant Holt put the Canaries ahead on 28 minutes before a second half onslaught from the Toffees culminated with Leon Osman equalising for Everton nine minutes from time.

Results and standings

Premier League

Blackburn 1
Dann 72;
West Brom 2
Morrison 53; Odemwingie 89;

HT: 0-0. Att: 22,909.

Everton 1
Osman 81;
Norwich 1
Holt 28;

HT: 0-1. Att: 31,004.

Fulham 2
Dempsey 32; Ruiz 34;
Bolton 0

HT: 2-0. Att: 25,643.

Newcastle 0
Swansea 0

Att: 51,767.

Wigan 1
Gomez 88;
Chelsea 1
Sturridge 59;

HT: 0-0. Att: 18,320.

Wolves 1
Hunt 17 pen;
Stoke City 2
Doyle 58 og; Crouch 70;

HT: 1-0. Att: 24,684.


P W D L F A Pts
Man. City 15 12 2 1 49 15 38
Man. United 15 11 3 1 35 14 36
Chelsea 16 10 2 4 34 19 32
Tottenham 14 10 1 3 30 18 31
Arsenal 15 9 2 4 31 23 29
Newcastle 16 7 6 3 21 19 27
Liverpool 15 7 5 3 18 13 26
Stoke City 16 7 3 6 18 25 24
Norwich City 16 5 5 6 25 29 20
Aston Villa 15 4 7 4 18 19 19
Fulham 16 4 6 6 18 18 18
Swansea 16 4 6 6 16 20 18
West Brom 16 5 3 8 16 24 18
Everton 15 5 2 8 16 19 17
QPR 15 4 4 7 15 26 16
Sunderland 15 3 5 7 18 18 14
Wolves 16 4 2 10 17 30 14
Wigan 16 3 4 9 15 30 13
Blackburn 16 2 4 10 23 36 10
Bolton 16 3 0 13 20 38 9

Playing today
Aston Villa vs Liverpool - 15.05
Man. City vs Arsenal - 17.10
QPR vs Man. United - 13.00
Tottenham vs Sunderland - 16.00

Top scorers
15 goals: Van Persie (Arsenal).
11 goals: Aguero (Man. City), Ba (Newcastle), Rooney (Man. United).
10 goals: Dzeko (Man. City).
9 goals: Yakubu (Blackburn).

Next fixtures
Tuesday: 20.45 Wolves vs Norwich. 21.00 Blackburn vs Bolton.
Wednesday: 20.45 Aston Villa vs Arsenal; Manchester City vs Stoke; Newcastle vs West Brom. 21.00 Everton vs Swansea; Fulham vs Manchester United; QPR vs Sunderland; Wigan vs Liverpool.
Thursday: 21.00 Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea.

The Championship
Blackpool 0 - Watford 0
Brighton 0 - Burnley 1
Bristol City 0 - Nottm Forest 0
Cardiff 2 - Middlesbrough 3
Doncaster 2 - Leicester 1
Hull City 2 - Millwall 0
Ipswich Town 1 - Derby 0
Leeds United 0 - Reading 1
Peterborough 1 - Coventry 0
West Ham 1 - Barnsley 0

Playing today:
Portsmouth-Southampton - 14.00

Tomorrow:
Crystal Palace-Birmingham - 20.45

Standings: Southampton, West Ham 43; Middlesbrough 41; Hull 39; Cardiff 38; Leeds 35; Reading 33; Blackpool, Brighton 32; Leicester, Burnley, Crystal Palace, Barnsley 30; Birmingham 29; Peterborough, Derby 28; Portsmouth, Watford, Ipswich 26; Millwall 23; Bristol City, Nottm Forest 21; Doncaster 19; Coventry 13.

League One
Bournemouth 0 - Sheffield Utd 2
Bury 1 - Brentford 1
Carlisle 2 - Wycombe 2
Charlton 1 - Oldham 1
Chesterfield 1 - Walsall 1
Exeter 0 - Scunthorpe 0
Hartlepool 0 - Colchester 1
MK Dons 0 - Preston 1
Notts County 1 - Leyton Orient 2
Rochdale 0 - Yeovil 0
Sheffield Wed. 4 - Huddersfield 4
Stevenage 2 - Tranmere 1

Standings: Charlton 48; Sheffield Wed. 43; Sheffield United 41; Huddersfield, MK Dons 39; Brentford, Carlisle 33; Stevenage 32; Notts County 31; Preston 30; Colchester 29; Bury 28; Oldham 27; Hartlepool, Tranmere, Bournemouth 26; Leyton Orient 25; Exeter 21; Yeovil 20; Scunthorpe 19; Walsall, Rochdale 18; Wycombe 17; Chesterfield 14.

League Two
Accrington 3 - Torquay 1
Burton Albion 1 - Dagenham1
Crewe 1 - Crawley Town 1
Gillingham 4 - Bristol Rovers 1
Oxford United 2 - Northampton 0
Plymouth 1 - Hereford 1
Port Vale 4 - Aldershot 0
Rotherham 1 - Wimbledon 0
Shrewsbury 1 - Macclesfield 0
Swindon 3 - Morecambe 0

Standings: Crawley 46; Southend, Cheltenham 42; Shrewsbury 40; Swindon Town 37; Burton 36; Gillingham 35; Oxford, Rotherham 33; Port Vale 32; Morecambe, Torquay 31; Accrington Stanley 29; Crewe 27; Macclesfield, Aldershot, Wimbledon 26; Bristol Rovers 23; Barnet 20; Bradford 19; Hereford 18; Northamp-ton 17; Plymouth, Dagenham 14.

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