Latics 0 Chelsea 1 - Deco free kick denies Latics their first points.

It took a spectacular free kick from Chelsea newboy Deco to beat a battling Latics outfit.

The bombshell that proved the difference happened just four minutes in when Latics midfielder Lee Cattermole accidently handled on the edge of the box. Deco struck a thunderbolt free-kick into the top left hand corner to put the visitors a goal up. The strike was out of reach of stand in 'keeper Mike Pollitt (pictured) who was a last minute replacement for Chris Kirkland who pulled out during the warm up.

The goal proved to be the difference in an entertaining Sunday afternoon at the JJB Stadium.

Steve Bruce's men responded well though and began testing the Chelsea defence. Titus Bramble and Wilson Palacios linked up well to send through Amr Zaki who unleashed a fierce drive at Chelsea 'keeper Petr Cech forcing him to parry wide.

VALENCIA: Menancing on the right channel

Antonio Valencia and Mario Melchiot worked well together down the right and created some problems for Ashley Cole.

The start to the second half was reasonably quiet with Chelsea controlling most of the play but Nicolas Anelka struggled to make a break through as Titus Bramble, standing in for injured Paul Scharner remained solid throughout.

Latics really brightened up in the last ten minutes with Henri Camara receiving a welcoming cheer as he replaced skipper Mario Melchiot in a tactical substitution but the Senegalese international couldn't find a way past Petr Cech.

With less than fifteen minutes remaing, Lee Cattermole played a fancy one-two with fellow newboy Daniel de Ridder but couldn't quite connect with his shot which drifted over the crossbar.

Olivier Kapo came even closer with minutes to spare, picking the ball up twenty yards out and forcing Cech to tip round the post with a fantastic goalbound strike.

LATICS: Pollitt; Melchiot ( C) (Camara 85), Boyce, Bramble, Figueroa, Valencia, Cattermole, Palacios (Kapo 80), Koumas (de Ridder 45), Zaki, Heskey

Subs: Nash, Brown, Kilbane, Sibierski

CHELSEA: Cech, Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry ( C), A Cole (Bridge 82), Ballack, Essien, Lampard, Deco, Cole (Kalou 58), Anelka (Malouda 89)

Subs: Hilario, Ivanovic, Alex, Belletti