Crespo rescues rusty Chelsea

Hernán Crespo marked his return to the fold at Chelsea FC with a rasping added-time winner to prevent Premiership newcomers Wigan Athletic FC beginning their first top-flight campaign by holding the champions at home.

Wigan chances
Wigan, determined in defence and quick to counterattack, had held their own against José Mourinho's men for 90 minutes. They even threatened to take all three points when Damien Francis headed against Petr Cech's crossbar midway through the second half and Andreas Johansson squandered two goalscoring opportunities in the closing stages.

Fine finish
Chelsea, at full strength but not firing on all cylinders, brought on Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips during the second half but looked certain to leave the north-west with a share of the spoils until Crespo, back after a season on loan at AC Milan, picked up possession in the inside-right channel and arrowed a left-footed finish into the far corner.

'Wake-up call'
"It's not fair," said Chelsea manager Mourinho after his side's 1-0 win. "I feel sorry for [Wigan] I don't think they deserved to lose the game. We have to perform better. Normally you lose and get a wake-up call - today we got a wake-up call but also three points."

Jenas off
Earlier in the afternoon, Arsenal FC defeated ten-man Newcastle United FC 2-0 thanks to a Thierry Henry penalty and Robin van Persie's strike, both in the last ten minutes. Newcastle's Jermaine Jenas had been sent off midway through the first half for a challenge on Gilberto but his team-mates held on until deep into the second half.

Late goals
Henry scored from the spot after Fredrik Ljungberg had been brought down in the penalty area and it was the Swede who set up Arsenal's second goal, dragging the ball to the by-line before pulling it back for Van Persie to squeeze in from close range at the near post.