WIGAN 0 : CHELSEA 1

DECO showed the touch of an artist to fire Chelsea to their second win of the season.

The Portuguese midfielder has spent the last four years at Barcelona behind the great Ronaldinho in the free-kick taking queue.

But his new club Chelsea will make him their No1 if he continues to strike them like he did today.

Deco's winner drew high praise from team-mate and man-of-the-match Ashley Cole, who backed the playmaker to provide an extra spark this season.

He said: “Deco once again with a bit of magic. I think that’s what’s going to help us win the league this year.”

And after scoring on his Premier League debut last weekend, the little Portuguese needed just three minutes on the clock to double his season's tally with a scorching dead ball strike.

Wigan new boy Lee Cattermole was adjudged to have handled outside the box, and Deco stepped up to fire past Mike Pollit.

But the early lead seemed to take the wind out of Chelsea's sails, and Wigan began to step on the gas.

Summer signing Amr Zaki was a constant threat, forcing two great saves from Petr Cech as Steve Bruce's side enjoyed the better of the first half.

Wigan continued to press in the second half, with Chelsea looking nervous and almost gifting the hosts the softest of chances after a breakdown in communication between Ricardo Carvalho and Cech.

There was room for improvement in their forward play too, Anelka and Ashley Cole conspiring to lose possession on the edge of the area after an incisive

Michael Essien, having spent much of the afternoon anchoring the midfield, had the half’s first attempt on goal, screwing a low shot to Pollitt’s right.

The increasingly impressive Zaki then carved his way between Bosingwa and Essien, earning a corner with an exhilarating run.

He followed up 10 minutes from time with a tantalising left-wing cross which just evaded Heskey and resulted in a tame effort from Daniel De Ridder.And in a late rally, substitute Olivier Kapo had Wigan’s best chance to equalise, forcing Cech into a diving save.

But last season's title runners-up had enough about them to see out the win and give boss Luiz Felip Scolari his second league win from two.

Cole, who came off with a tight hamstring late in the game, admitted that despite the win his side were less convincing than on the opening day of the season.

He added: “I don’t think it was as good as last week against Portsmouth.

“For us today it was just about stopping them and getting three points.”