It was a battle between a team second from bottom and a team second from the top.One had scored 44 goals while the other had shipped in the same amount. The pre match statistics suggested that the match could go only one way- Chelsea’s. And that is eventually ended– 1-0 to Chelsea. Charlton showed plenty of fighting spirit- especially in the second half.
Jose Mourinho opted to start John Terry on the bench, which meant that Essien had to again fill in as makeshift centreback. Bridge stepped in for the injured cole and Lassana Diarra operated on the right. Mikel started, and Drogba and Shevchenko were the hunters upfront.
Charlton’s first half wasn’t very good. They did not pose any threat when they occasionally got forward and Chelsea enjoyed lots of possession. Yet, it was Charlton’s defensive frailties rather than Chelsea’s attacking flair that was causing problems to the home side. They eventually paid for it when an Amdy Moustapha Faye error saw Frank Lampard send a low shot past Scott Carson. 1-0 Chelsea.  Marcus Bent did not really get a sight of the ball too much and Charlton were largely restricted to their own half.
For the Addicks, Scott Carson has been in brilliant form this season and today was no different. He pulled off some brilliant saves to keep his side in the game. Lampard’s powerful free kick just before half time was parried by the onloan from Liverpool keeper . Wish Lampo produces more FK’s like that when he plays for England 
Alan Pardew’ s words at the lemon break seemed to inspire Charlton, and the Addicks came out a new side after the interval. Chelsea also looked a completely different side from the one that had dominated proceedings in the first half. Thomas started to trouble Diarra from the left . Charlton’s best moment came when Thomas passed on to Bent who squared it for Faye. Faye went past Lampard and had a clear view of the Chelsea goal and Petr Cech. He shot high and Cech tipped it over. Faye had another chance to atone for his error, but his shot from a narrow angle was stopped by Cech. Ofcourse the shot wasn’t the best, and Chelsea survived.
Shevchenko made way for Kalou late in the game and the former Feyernoord forward nearly scored off Didier Drogba’s cross just after coming on. Wright Philips added some tooth to the Chelsea attack when he came on for Mikel and should have scored on atleast one occasion.
The much awaited return of John Terry did come- in the 88th minute. Lampard retained the armband though, and Chelsea hung on to reduce the gap between them and United to three points.
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