Chelsea went into the 2006-07 campaign as Premier League champions from the previous two seasons. If truth be told, the team that Jose Mourinho had sculptured were largely unopposed during both of those terms, such was the quality that they possessed.
However, it became clear very early on in 2006 that Manchester United would be resurgent under Sir Alex Ferguson, so much so that when Chelsea made the trip to Wigan Athletic on this day, they were two points behind the Red Devils.
It appeared that the Blues were going to remain on United's coattails courtesy of a routine victory at the DW Stadium when they eased into a 2-0 lead within the opening 31 minutes.
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First Arjen Robben freed Frank Lampard with a reverse pass to break the deadlock, before summer signing Salomon Kalou, who had hit the post earlier in the half, headed beyond the reach of Chris Kirkland in the home goal.
Ordinarily, Chelsea would have negotiated their way through the remainder of the contest with minimal drama, but on this occasion Emile Heskey brought the home side back into the game just moments before the break when he headed in a cross by Josip Skoko.
Then, with 15 minutes remaining, the same player drew Wigan level to seemingly secure a share of the spoils. Midfielder Denny Landzaat kept the move alive and when the ball arrived to Heskey, he managed to fire into the roof of the net from close range.
Just as they had done during the previous season, though, Chelsea would break Wigan's resolve with a late goal. On that occasion it was Hernan Crespo, while Dutch winger Robben was the hero this time around.
The hosts failed to close him down and they were punished when the former PSV Eindhoven player drilled the ball in from the edge of the penalty area in the 90th minute.
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"That's heartbreaking. Chelsea won't get a tougher 45 minutes all season, but they've come back and that's why they are champions," Wigan boss Paul Jewell said after the match.
Meanwhile, his opposite number Mourinho added: "Champions should not need to score in the last minute. The fans might call that exciting but I don't. If you are in an easy game you have to kill it.
"We were 2-0 up after 30 minutes, in complete control, then we started playing very badly. Wigan did very well, they are an emotional team, but we let them back into the game when they should have been finished."
WIGAN: Kirkland; Boyce, De Zeeuw, Hall, Baines; Johansson (Cotterill), Skoko, Landzaat (Wright), Kilbane; Heskey, Todorov (Teale)
CHELSEA: Hilario; Essien, Boulahrouz (Shevchenko), Carvalho, Cole; Lampard, Makelele (Mikel), Ballack; Kalou, Drogba, Robben (Geremi)
Liam Apicella
