Premiership clockwatch

Results:

Wigan 0-1 Arsenal

Match report

Chelsea 1-0 Newcastle

Match report

GOALFLASHES AND MAJOR INCIDENTS (all times GMT)

By Saj Chowdhury

2138: FULL-TIME Chelsea 1-0 Newcastle
Chelsea close the gap on leaders Manchester United to five points with this victory. Injury-hit Newcastle, who lost Charles N'Zogbia earlier in the match, fought valiantly, but go away from Stamford Bridge empty-handed.

2138: FULL-TIME Wigan 0-1 Arsenal
It is over at the JJB. Emmanuel Adebayor's late goal proves enough to the Gunners a useful away win, although Arsene Wenger's men made hard work of it.

2136: Newcastle's Celestine Babayaro shows Arjen Robben too much space on the right. The Dutchman cracks in great shot that Shay Given is equal to, tipping the ball on to his right-hand post.

2132: GOAL Wigan 0-1 Arsenal
Cesc Fabregas finds Emmanuel Adebayor with a long raking pass. The striker beats the offside trap to stride forward into the box and fire under the body of Chris Kirkland.

2126: Henri Camara lashes in a stunning shot from the edge of the area but it dips and swerves just over Jens Lehmann's crossbar.

2122: GOAL Chelsea 1-0 Newcastle
Chelsea finally break the Newcastle defence. Arjen Robben finds Andriy Shevchenko on the right who in turn finds striker partner Didier Drogba who steals in at the near post to tap in from three yards.

2120: Josip Skoko's shot is well-saved by Arsenal's Jens Lehmann, while Henri Camara fails to make the most of the rebound.

2118: Earlier in the clockwatch, the question was asked why the JJB Stadium was so sparsely populated (15,311 to be precise). Well, Wigan were hosts to the World Pie Eating Championships - that may just be the answer.

2116: Andriy Shevchenko comes on for Geremi.

2111: At the JJB, Arsenal's Julio Baptista fires in superb 25-yard free-kick that travels just wide of Chris Kirkland's right-hand post. Meanwhile, Emile Heskey comes off for Andreas Johansson.

2110: Michael Essien picks up yellow after a late challenge on Antoine Sibierski, who comes off hobbling. More bad news for Newcastle. But the Frenchman comes back on, albeit gingerly.

2109: Celestine Babayaro picks up the first booking of the evening, fouling Salomon Kalou on the right-hand byline. from the free-kick Given is forced into making a lightning save from Robben's curling low free-kick.

2105: Arjen Robben gets in his shot from Didier Drogba's chest-down, but the ball travels so slowly Shay Given could have had a cup of tea before saving the Dutchman's effort.

2056: Didier Drogba almost makes an immediate impact, but heads wide Arjen Robben's great ball from the left.

2055: The news is a bad from the Newcastle bench - Charles N'Zogbia has medial knee ligament damage.

2053: Chelsea bring on Didier Drogba for Shaun Wright-Phillips, while the injured Ricardo Carvalho is replaced by Claude Makelele. Newcastle kick off the second half.

2052: A great reverse-ball from Henri Camara finds Emile Heskey, but the former Liverpool striker fluffs his attempt to trouble the Arsenal goal. At the other end Julio Baptista's shot is beaten away by Chris Kirkland.

2050: Wigan kick off the second half of their game against Arsenal.

2043: Former Blues player Dan Petrescu spends almost all of half-time being paraded around Stamford Bridge.

2036: HALF-TIME
Newcastle have performed a miracle by still being at 0-0 against Chelsea. However, the Blues have been poor and are undoubtedly going to get a stern talking to by boss Jose Mourinho.

Meanwhile, at the JJB Wigan have not been troubled by an Arsenal side clearly missing the magic of Thierry Henry.

2033: Wigan have put on a vastly improved home performance against Arsenal. In their last match at the JJB they were 4-0 down to Liverpool by half-time.

2031: Newcastle's Charles N'Zogbia receives a blow to his leg after blocking Frank Lampard's shot. The Frenchman adds to Glenn Roeder's injury woes by coming off on a stretcher. South African Matty Pattison replaces the midfielder. There are five minutes of stoppage time - no surprise.

2021: Giuseppe Rossi rifles in a half-volley with the outside of his foot that beats Chelsea goalkeeper Hilario, but also the left-hand post.

2020: James Milner skins Chelsea's Ashely Cole on the right. But his wicked cross fails to find a Newcastle touch.

2015: Arsenal have dominated the last five minutes. Emmanuel Adebayor produces the Gunners' best chance, although his curling shot sails harmlessly wide of Chris Kirkland's goal.

2010: Shaun Wright-Phillips fires in a low shot from the right-corner of the Newcastle area that fizzes past Given's far-post by a couple of feet.

2008: The JJB Stadium looks even more sparsely populated than Stamford Bridge. What's going on in Wigan tonight apart from the footballl?

2002: James Milner curls in a stunning corner from the left that team-mate Antoine Sibierski heads on to the Chelsea crossbar. They may be decimated by injury, but Newcastle look dangerous from set-pieces.

2000: Newcastle's Nicky Butt comes close to scoring an own-goal from Frank Lampard's whipped-in free-kick. The ball sneaks past Given's right-hand post by a foot.

1958: Kalou wastes another opportunity for Chelsea - sidefooting his shot over Shay Given's crossbar.

1956: Johan Djourou gets treatment after making a last-ditch tackle on Wigan's Henri Camara in the six-yard area. The defender appears to be OK.

1952: Chelsea's Frank Lampard snatches at his shot from 18 yards, which flies wide. But the Blues are applying serious early pressure.

1951: Arsenal's Mathieu Flamini submits his entry for 'Worst Shot of the Year' when he spoons his effort from the edge of the area high and wide into the JJB Stadium stands.

1949: Chelsea casually give the ball away. Newcastle striker Martins runs on to the loose ball but screws his shot wastefully wide from 18 yards.

1947: Arsenal kick off their game at Wigan.

1945: Chelsea kick off their home game against Newcastle.

1941: Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehman spends some time in the tunnel talking to opposite number Chris Kirkland. Possibly discussing whether online shopping at Christmas is the way forward.

1935: There appear to be a few empty seats at Stamford Bridge. Is the brisk weather to blame? Or is it because some bookies are seeing this as a no-contest with odds as generous as 17-1 for Newcastle to beat the champions.

TEAM NEWS

Chelsea's £30m striker Andriy Shevchenko is demoted to the substitutes bench with Salomon Kalou, Arjen Robben and Shaun Wright-Phillips forming a very attacking front-line. Injury-ravaged Newcastle are forced into giving defender Paul Huntington his first start, while forward Giuseppe Rossi slots into a midfield role.

Arsenal's Kolo Toure returns from suspension in one of four changes to the team that drew with Chelsea. Fredrik Ljungberg, Julio Baptista and Theo Walcott come in for Philippe Senderos, Alexander Hleb, Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie. Wigan's Emile Heskey is back from a one-match ban, replacing David Cotterill, while Denny Landzaat takes the place of the suspended Paul Scharner.