Chelsea secured their first Premier League win in three weeks with a 1-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.
A goalless first half with few opportunities was to prove a stark contrast to a frantic second 45 minutes, in which a 51st minute goal from Frank Lampard proved enough for Andre Villas-Boas' men to secure all three points despite a superb late surge from the home side.
Having seen Newcastle defeat Everton in the afternoon's early kick-off to move into second, six points ahead of Chelsea, Villas-Boas' men will have wanted to reassert their power in the top-four scrap.
But it was the home side who nearly broke the deadlock early after Mauro Formica delivered a neat squared ball into the path of Yakubu in the ninth minute, only for the powerful Nigerian to knock his effort wide as he slid into the six-yard box.
The resulting collision between the striker and Petr Cech appeared to break the 'keeper's nose and the game was stopped for six minutes as the Blues' medical team attempted to stem the flow of blood coming from the Chelsea shot-stopper.
The visitors then felt they deserved a penalty after Daniel Sturridge was felled in the box by Samba but it looked little more than a 50-50 collision. Referee Mike Dean was not convinced, but it was at least a statement of intent from the visitors.
The vigour with which the hosts started the game lessened as the first half wore on and after losing Samba to a knock, Rovers looked perilously close to being overrun by Villas-Boas' men as Sturridge and Mata probed.
Villas-Boas clearly felt the need to change his side's approach and replaced Malouda with Fernando Torres at half-time.
Six minutes later and his side were in front, but it was a piece of beauty from Serbia, not Spain, that helped break the deadlock as Ivanovic pitched a divine low ball into from the right into the area for Lampard to nod home with pinpoint accuracy.
With the pressure on Kean ramped up once again, his side delivered and should have equalised only five minutes later as Pedersen's rasping free-kick was saved unconvincingly by Cech, only for Hanley to limply knock a shot back towards the keeper.
The game inevitably opened up as the home side looked to level the score and should have on the 67th minute, as Yakubu pounced on a bouncing ball left alone by the Chelsea defence following a mix-up between Alex and Terry but saw his curling effort saved by Cech.
The home side were battling valiantly and chances were to come their way in abundance, as a header from Ivanovic hit his own bar before Pedersen smashed an effort over as added time approached.
The win will no doubt ease the pressure on Villas-Boas who finally gave Chelsea fans something to shout about.