Rafael Benitez expressed delight after Frank Lampard scored his 198th Chelsea goal in a 4-1 victory over Wigan Athletic to end a four-match winless run and ease the pressure on the interim manager.
Ramires and Eden Hazard gave the Blues a 2-0 lead which Shaun Maloney halved after 58 minutes, before Lampard’s 86th-minute strike saw him move to within four of Bobby Tambling’s club goalscoring record of 202.
Substitute Marko Marin added a stoppage-time fourth as Chelsea, who had won just three of their previous 10 games, triumphed for the first time since the defeat of Arsenal.
“We deserved to win,” Benitez said. “To win is something you have to do. Top sides, if you want to win something, you have to be consistent winning. It’s normal. But it’s not the end of the world if you draw a game you deserve to win.
“The problem for me would be if we don’t create chances; we create chances every game. We score goals. We’re making some mistakes, but we have a lot of positives. Today four goals could be six goals at the end.”