Round-up: Chelsea score modest 2-0 win over Stoke

Blues win as Lampard needs hernia surgery, Wigan shock Spurs and Blackpool stop losing streak with respectable draw.

Chelsea could not quite match its previous goalscoring feats but still cantered to a 2-0 victory against Stoke in the Premier League on Saturday. Carlo Ancelotti's defending champions made sure they will be top of the Premier League heading into the international break after maintaining their 100 percent record for the season. Chelsea has scored 31 goals in its last six league games stretching back into last season, and conceded none. Having handed West Brom and Wigan 6-0 thrashings in its first two games of the season, Chelsea looked on course for another handsome win when Ryan Shawcross fouled Didier Drogba to concede a penalty. However, Stoke 'keeper Thomas Sorensen easily saved Frank Lampard's weak spot-kick and the hosts had to wait until the 32nd to take the lead, Florent Malouda latching onto John Terry's pass and slotting in his fourth goal of the season. Stoke, unlike Wigan and West Brom, refused to cave in and might even have scored an unlikely equaliser when Glenn Whelan hammered a 25-yard shot onto the bar. The visitors' resistance was finally broken in the 77th minute when Drogba scored from the spot after Sorensen had brought down Nicolas Anelka. Lampard, Chelsea's regular penalty taker, had been substituted by that time, and it emerged after the game that the England midfielder requires hernia surgery. He will miss England's Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland, Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said. "He will need surgery this week, Tuesday or Wednesday. He will not be able to play for England. We have told England," the Italian told reporters. "In one or two weeks he will be back. It's very easy surgery. He needs to do it because he was starting to feel pain."

Hugo Rodallega scored late in Wigan's 1-0 win at Tottenham in a setback to Spurs' bid to finish in the top four of the Premier League for a second consecutive season. Two days after being drawn to meet defending Champions League winner Inter Milan in Europe, Spurs lost to a team that had been beaten 4-0 by promoted Blackpool and 6-0 to Chelsea in its opening two home games. Rodallega hit the winner when Spurs goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini, making his first start since being involved in a serious motorcycle accident last season, let the ball squirm past him in the 80th minute. Last season, Tottenham had thrashed Wigan 9-1 at White Hart Lane.

Blackpool had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Fulham in its first home game in the English topflight since 1971 after Dickson Etuhu struck a superb late equaliser for the London side. Bobby Zamora had put Fulham in front in the 35th minute, only for an own goal by John Pantsil to bring the teams level in the 71st. Luke Varney, making his debut a day after signing a season-long loan deal from Derby, then looked to have capped a rousing fightback in Blackpool's first Premier League game at a revamped Bloomfield Road with a 76th minute strike. But the hopes of victory celebrations were dashed when Etuhu sent a delicate lob over keeper Matthew Gilks after being released by Belgian striker Moussa Dembele with three minutes left on the clock.

Andy Carroll scored his fourth goal in two games to rescue a point for Newcastle in a feisty game at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Referee Stuart Attwell handed out 11 yellow cards as the tackles flew in at Molineux. Newcastle, fresh from a 6-0 thrashing of Aston Villa last weekend, made the better start and Kevin Nolan miscued a shot in the 18th minute when he probably should have put the Magpies in front. Carroll was guilty of a worse miss in the 42nd, scooping the ball over the bar from eight yards after being set up Nolan. Just a minute later, the visitors were made to pay for their wastefulness when Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, who earlier headed a good chance against the post, controlled the ball brilliantly with his chest and fired in low past Steve Harper for his second goal in as many games. But Carroll, who scored a hat trick against Aston Villa, powered in a header from Joey Barton's free kick in the 62nd to make it 1-1. Newcastle manager Chris Hughton praised the composure shown by midfielder Joey Barton who appeared to be singled out by Karl Henry, the Wolves captain, for some robust tackles. He said: "Did Barton do well to keep his cool? Yes. It was a competitive game, which is one you expect when you come here. These are a good honest team and it was a real tough game for us."