Anelka 23   Piquionne 51

                                                                                           Lampard (pen) 79  

Chelsea stuttered past bottom club Portsmouth to re-open their three-point lead at the top of the EPL thanks to a Frank Lampard penalty eleven minutes from time.

The win was as unconvincing as that sounds, with Carlo Ancelotti’s men not taking advantage of a bright start and allowing Pompey opportunities to snatch the unlikeliest of points.

Top-scorer Didier Drogba was missing from the Blues line-up after picking up a back injury in training.

And he was missed as Chelsea created a number of openings but at no stage shook off the plucky opposition, managed by former Blues boss Avram Grant.

Drogba’s replacement, Salomon Kalou headed over the best of a series of early Chelsea chances from close-range on six minutes.

But Nicolas Anelka celebrated his 100^th Chelsea appearance with his 35^th goal, side-footing home Alex’s cross from the by-line on 23 minutes.

There were warnings late in the half when Frederic Piquionne forced a decent save from Blues keeper Petr Cech on 35 minutes and Tal Ben-Haim headed over a Jamie O’Hara free-kick five minutes later, both Portsmouth players being given too much space.

Ashley Cole was inches wide for Chelsea just before the break but played an inadvertent part in Portsmouth’s 51^st minute equaliser.

O’Hara’s free-kick hit Chelsea’s defensive wall then rebounded off the left-back into Piquionne’s path. And the striker accepted the gift with his right foot.

Michael Ballack, Branislav Ivanovic and Lampard had decent chances as Chelsea sought to repair the damage, Pompey keeper Asmir Begovic saving well from the latter two.

But Kevin Prince-Boateng was only denied by a last-ditch defensive block just past the hour mark as he looked to convert O’Hara’s cross with Piquionne unmarked behind him.

And Chelsea had to wait until eleven minutes from time to snatch the points, Lampard firing his penalty high and straight past the diving Begovic after Mark Wilson had clattered Ivanovic inside the box.