Frank Lampard came off the bench to bury a penalty that secured three vital points for Chelsea against League Manchester City at Stamford Bridge tonight.
The midfielder, seemingly out of sorts with Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas responded in the only way he knows by scoring.
Before his winning penalty strike, nine minutes from time, the game was finely balanced at 1-1.
The Blues' 2-1 win moves them up to third in the league and within spitting distance of City who are still seven points clear of the Londoners at the helm.
The England midfielder entered the fray with 17 minutes of the match remaining.
The score was finely poised at 1-1 thanks to a Mario Balotelli opener after two minutes and a rasping Raul Meireles volley on 33 minutes.
City were reduced to 10 men on 57 minutes when Gael Clichy was given the second of his yellow cars for a foul on Ramires.
This was clearly the turning point of the game and the Blues took full advantage.
With nine minutes left, Daniel Sturridge hit a speculative shot from just outside the City penalty area.
The luckless recipient of the ball was Joleon Lescott and the ball smashed into his outstretched right arm.
Referee Mark Clattenberg pointed to the spot.
Commeth the hour Commeth the man, so they say, and so it proved. Up stepped Lampard to bury the spot kick past Joe Hart to secure three vital points.
But it was Oh so different after just two minutes when Manchester City took the lead with their first attack.
Excellent work by Sergio Aguero in the middle, saw John Terry pulled of position. This left Mario Balotelli to stand between Branislav Ivanovic and Jose Bosingwa.
He received the ball, walked round Petr Cech and imperiously slid a low, right footer from an acute angle into the Chelsea net.
The home side responded with a degree of pressure, resulting, on 10 minutes, with Raul Meireles shooting just over from range.
But 60 seconds later city should have doubled their lead when Ashley Cole lost possession allowing Sergio Aguero to zip through the Chelsea rearguard.
But the Argentina striker shot wide. The visitors had a fine penalty shout dismissed by Clattenburg two minutes later when David Silva appeared to be tripped inside the Chelsea penalty area by Jose Bosingwa.
Didier Drogba, anonymous for much of the early exchanges fired into action on 25 minutes latching onto a through ball.
But the Ivory Coast's hit man's left foot shot, on target from just inside the City area, was deflected for a corner.
He added to that a couple of minutes later, when a long-range shot went helplessly wide.
City have terrific firepower but their defence is suspect, and so it was proved on 33 minutes when Daniel Sturridge, wide on the right, arrowed down towards the City byline.
He skipped past Gael Clichy before sending across the perfect ball for in-running, and unmarked Meireles, who thumped home a fierce right-footed volley from six yards out past Joe Hart to level the scores.
Sturridge had a fine chance, the first of the second half, on 47 minutes, when he collected a long free-kick from Juan Mata on the edge of the City area.
The England striker hit a half volley with his right foot which just inched over Hart's crossbar. Clichy's nightmare match was complete on 57 minutes when he received a second yellow card for upending Ramires on the edge of his penalty area.
City boss Roberto Mancini responded by bringing on Kolo Toure and sacrificing Aguero.
Chelsea took full advantage of the extra man, pushing City back towards their goal.
However, they were also victim to the quick count-attack, one of which, on 67 minutes saw Silva race 50 yards before setting up Baloletti.
The Italy striker produced a lively long-range effort which Cech did well to smother.
Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas made his first change of the night with 18 minutes remaining, bringing on Lampard for Meireles.
And He was quickly followed by City replacing Silva for the more defence-minded Nigel De Jong as the cat and mouse tactics entered the final stages.
A run and prod by on the edge of City's penalty by Ramires on 80 minutes failed to trouble Hart.
But the drama hit new heights seconds later when a speculative shot by Sturridge from just outside the area saw the ball hit luckless Joleon Lescott.
Clattenberg pointed to the spot. Up stepped Lampard who blasted the ball down the middle of Hart's goal, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way.
Mancini sent on Edin Dzeko, replacing Lescott with five minutes remaining, as the previously unbeaten league leaders went in search for an equaliser.
Villas-boas responded in kind by replacing Sturridge with midfielder Mikel.
But the Blues had too much know-how to lose the lead and ran the clock down comfortably to see out the game.
Teams - Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cole, Romeu, Ramires, Mata, Drogba, Meireles, Bosingwa, Sturridge, Terry, Subs Turnbull, Lampard, Torres, Mikel, Malouda, Ferreira, Kalou Man City: Hart, Kompany, Zabaleta, Lescott, Milner, Aguero, Barry, Silva, Clichy, Yaya Toure, Balotelli Subs Pantilimon, Dzeko, Johnson, Savic, Masri, Kolo Toure, De Jong