Shevchenko fires Chelsea top

Andriy Shevchenko's first goal since August has helped Chelsea return to the top of the Premiership with a 2-1 win over Portsmouth at Stamford Bridge.Germany captain Michael Ballack doubled Jose Mourinho's men's lead just before the hour mark with his first league goal in English football.And despite Benjani Mwaruwari reducing the deficit on 69 minutes, there was no way back for Harry Redknapp's visitors, who now find themselves six points behind the Blues.David Moyes saw his Everton side go level on 16 points with Pompey after they returned to winning ways with a 2-0 win over ten-man Sheffield United, who had Claude Davis sent off for a penalty box foul on Andy Johnson at Goodison Park.A 13th-minute strike from Mikel Arteta and James Beattie's 33rd-minute penalty after Johnson was brought down helped the Blues get back to winning ways after picking up just three points in their four previous matches.While Watford boss Adrian Boothroyd saw his men pick up their fifth point of the season in a 0-0 draw at bottom-of-the-table Charlton, Wigan Athletic recorded their biggest-ever top-flight victory as they consigned Stuart Pearce's Manchester City to a 4-0 defeat at the JJB.There were calls of "You're not fit to wear the shirt" as Pearce's men suffered their fourth league defeat of the season as Paul Jewell's men ran riot.Emile Heskey needed just 65 seconds to break the deadlock before Richard Dunne headed past his own goalkeeper two minutes later.Henri Camara poked in the Latics' third on 65 minutes before Luis Antonio Valencia rounded off the scoring to take Jewell's men to within a point of City.After the game Pearce, who refused to cite an horrendous 11-man injury-list as the major reason for the defeat, said: "I don't go into the dressing room and pick anyone up when they have played as badly as that."One or two heads went down in the second half and there was a lack of leadership, which is something we will have to address."We can't hide behind anything - we played badly. We didn't win enough one-on-one battles. The fans have paid their money. They are passionate people and they are entitled to voice their opinion."But, players, coaches, directors and fans: we are all in the same boat. We are all Manchester City Football Club and now we have to get a bit of confidence in the players before we face Middlesbrough next Monday."

ITN | October 21, 2006

Tags:. .germany. .wear. .davis. .bridge. .table