Newcastle United's captain Michael Owen (right) makes a header towards goal, past Bolton Wanderers' Andy O'Brien (centre), during their English Premier League soccer match at St James' Park, Newcastle, England, on Saturday. - AP

LONDON (AP):

Deco scored with a free kick yesterday to give Chelsea a 1-0 victory at Wigan and extend coach Luiz Felipe Scolari's winning start in the Premier League.

The Blues now have six points after two games and lead Liverpool on goal difference at the top of the league. In yesterday's other game, Manchester City beat 10-man West Ham 3-0 behind two goals from Elano to give new manager Mark Hughes a win in his first home game.

Deco's shot over the wall caught Wigan's stand-in keeper Mike Pollitt out of position in the fourth minute and drifted into the top corner.

Chelsea's hopes of reproducing the attacking style that characterised Scolari's time in charge of Brazil gave way to a cautious approach that effectively shut Wigan out of the game.

Wigan lost their England goalkeeper, Chris Kirkland, during the warm-up and Pollitt was at fault for the goal. Lee Cattermole handled the ball on the edge of the area and Pollitt left his corner exposed, with Deco clipping the ball over the wall and into the net.

REACTED STRONGLY

Wilson Palacios and Jason Koumas both tested Chelsea goalkeeper Peter Cech as Wigan reacted strongly.

Chelsea successfully took the sting out of the second half, giving Wigan a significant amount of possession without allowing clear chances.

In the closing stages, Wigan's Amr Zaki began to exploit the space on Chelsea's right but the hosts were let down by their wayward shooting.

With eight minutes to go, Chelsea left back Ashley Cole had a suspected hamstring injury and was replaced by Wayne Bridge.

Wigan's last chance came in injury time when Olivier Kapo's free kick hit the Chelsea wall.

In Manchester, City dominated the first half and wasted several good chances to go ahead before the break. West Ham's Callum Davenport made a double clearance on the goal line in the 10th minute, first blocking Stephen Ireland's header and then deflecting Tal Ben Haim's effort.

Martin Petrov's free kick in the 22nd swirled above the West Ham wall but hit the outside of the right post.

COULDN'T TAKE LEAD

West Ham were reduced to 10 men in the 37th when defender Mark Noble picked up his second yellow card by lunging at Michael Johnson, but City still couldn't take the lead before the break.

It wasn't until the 65th minute that Petrov's cross was partially cleared by Matthew Upson and Daniel Sturridge controlled the ball before striking it into the roof of the net.

Five minutes later, Stephen Ireland cleverly brought down Vedran Corluka's pass and laid it off to Elano, who sent it into the bottom corner for a 2-0 lead. Corluka found Ireland again, who this time cut the ball across the six-yard box for Elano to volley in his second goal in the 76th.

The game saw 10 minutes of injury time added, largely due to a six-minute delay caused when defender Micah Richards clashed heads with his Ben Haim. Richards was carried off on a stretcher.

City's owner Thaksin Shina-watra attended the game despite having been advised to stay away because of security concerns.

The former Thai prime minister jumped bail and flew back to exile in England from Beijing two weeks ago after refusing to face corruption charges in Bangkok.