Chelsea have dramatically drawn 1-1 with Wigan Athletic in their Premier league match at Stamford Bridge on Monday evening, with Ghanaian midfielder Michael Essien scoring in the 55th minute and Wigan equalising in injury time through Emile Heskey.

Chelsea, currently second in the Premiership table, could have closed the gap to just three points on leaders Manchester United with the win, but found it hard to break down a Wigan Athletic who have won two of their last three matches and who desperately needed something out of the match to try and avoid the threat of relegation.

England midfielder Frank Lampard withdrew from the match for personal reasons. He was replaced by defender Juliano Belletti for the match, with striker Claudio Pizarro gaining a place on the bench.

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech returned in goal for The Blues, wearing a protective mask after recently sustaining a nasty face injury and having to have stitches.

Chelsea started the first-half brightly, with striker Nicolas Anelka having a couple of good opportunities to open the scoring in the first-half, but with Latics keeper Chris Kirkland doing well to deny the French forward.

Wigan’s Antonio Valencia had the first shot on-target for the visitors in the 20th minute, but his shot from the edge of the penalty area failed to properly test the Chelsea keeper, who gathered the ball easily.

Kirkland managed another superb save off the line to deny Anelka towards the half-hour mark, with Chelsea beginning to pile the pressure on the Wigan defence.

Josip Skoko cleared another Chelsea shot off the line in the 35th minute, with the away team beginning to find some confidence in the match, but always having to be wary of the threat on the break.

Paul Scharner did well to deny Anelka after Chelsea broke free again, but his sliding tackle was timed to perfection, clearing the danger for the visitors.

The match went into half-time 0-0, with the home side having the majority of possession, but with the visitors giving no space in the first-half and frustrating the Premier League contenders, who were booed off the pitch by sections of their own supporters as the players left the for the halftime break.

The second-half started with the home-side in command, with Chelsea making one half-time substitution, swapping Joe Cole for Florent Malouda.

Chelsea immediately forced Wigan into defence, with skipper John Terry hitting the bar from a half volley and, seconds later, Kirkland pulling off another stunning save to deny Salomon Kalou.

But the pressure from Chelsea paid-off, with Michael Essien picking up a loose ball from Anelka on the edge of the penalty-area, with the Ghanaian smashing home to make it 1-0 to Chelsea.

Wigan made two substitutions, with Jason Koumas and Antoine Sibierski coming on for Josip Skoko and Marcus Bent as Latics manager Steve Bruce went for more attacking players to try and get a result.

But with only one win on the road all season – against relegated Derby County – Wigan struggled to find their way back into the match.

Chris Kirkland improved his hopes of a call-up from England manager Fabio Capello with another superb save from Michael Essien, with Chelsea’s hopes of the title having been dashed by an injury-time diving strike in the six-yard box from Emile Heskey after Latics manager Steve Bruce decided to throw everything at the Chelsea goal in the dying seconds of the match.

The last-gasp goal gives wigan athletic major hope of surviving the Premier league drop, but more importantly, Chelsea now trail Manchester united by 5 points, with just four games to play in the title-race.

Chelsea now need to bank on Manchester United dropping points to have any chance of wrestling the championship title away from Sir Alex Ferguson's team.

Chelsea Team: Petr Cech, John Terry, Juliano Belletti, Alex, Michael Essien, Wayne Bridge, John Mikel Obi (Andriy Shevchenko, 90), Florent Malouda (Joe Cole, 46), Michael Ballack, Salomon Kalou, Nicolas Anelka.

Chelsea Substitutes Not Used: Henrique Hilario, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Claudio Pizarro.

Wigan Athletic Team: Chris Kirkland, Emmerson Boyce, Mario Melchiot, Kevin Kilbane, Paul Scharner, Josip Skoko (Jason Koumas, 56) Antonio Valencia, Ryan Taylor (Marlon King, 79), Wilson Palacios, Marcus Bent (Antoine Sibierski, 64), Emile Heskey.

Wigan Athletic Substitutes Not Used: Michael Pollitt, Michael Brown.