LONDON, Dec 24: Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech added to the club’s growing injury crisis by limping out of the 1-0 win at Blackburn on Sunday with a suspected hip injury. A first-half strike from England midfielder Joe Cole completed a fortuitous victory for Avram Grant’s team, who were outplayed for long periods by the home side.

But the loss of Cech early in the second-half following a collision with Blackburn’s Paraguayuan striker Roque Santa Cruz took the shine off Chelsea’s victory, who now look certain to be without the Czech Republic keeper, as well as the already-injured John Terry and Didier Drogba, for the busy Christmas fixture programme.

Having won just once in seven league games ahead of this game, Blackburn were in desperate need of a morale-boosting victory ahead of the Festive period.

Chelsea were in the same predicament, however, after losing at Arsenal seven days earlier and anything but a win at Ewood Park would have left them with a sizeable gap to bridge between themselves and the top two.

Mark Hughes’s men started the brighter, though, and the impressive David Bentley was at the heart of everything as Blackburn poured forward inside the opening 20 minutes.

Santa Cruz, who had scored five goals in his previous two games and ended up on the losing side on both occasions, saw a powerful shot blocked by Ricardo Carvalho on four minutes before England midfielder Bentley aimed a 20-yard strike narrowly over the crossbar three minutes later.

Former Arsenal youngster Bentley had been deployed in an advanced role just behind Santa Cruz and Chelsea afforded him far too much space. And after hitting the crossbar with a curling free-kick, Bentley sent Santa Cruz and a breakaway with a precise pass after dummying John-Obi Mikel.

Santa Cruz escaped defender Alex, in for the injured Terry, but his half-volley flew wide of Cech’s right-hand post as Chelsea survived another scare.

Grant’s team simply could not get a foothold in the game, but everything turned on 22 minutes when Cole put them ahead with Chelsea’s first effort on goal.

Cole was found brilliantly by Salomon Kalou’s through-ball and, without breaking stride, the former West Ham midfielder beat keeper Brad Friedel with an unstoppable right-foot strike into the top corner from just inside the penalty area.

Blackburn fought back well, though, and Steven Reid was only denied an equaliser on 33 minutes when Cech tipped his close range strike onto the post.

But Frank Lampard, chasing his 100th goal for Chelsea, hit the woodwork himself moments later when Friedel also pushed his 20-yard effort against the woodwork.

After such an open first-half, it was no surprise to see both teams tighten up defensively after the break and the chances that were free-flowing before the interval suddenly dried up.

Results:

Played on Sunday:

Blackburn Rovers 0 Chelsea 1

Manchester United 2 Everton 1

Newcastle United 2 Derby County 2

Played on Saturday:

Arsenal 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1

Aston Villa 1 Manchester City 1

Bolton Wanderers 3 Birmingham City 0

Fulham 1 Wigan Athletic 1

Liverpool 4 Portsmouth 1

Middlesbrough 1 West Ham United 2

Reading 2 Sunderland 1

—Agencies