Sheffield Wednesday continued to prove that where there's hope, there's life and the chance of staging a footballing miracle.

For Wednesday, it was the first time this season they had won two successive matches in the Premier League, and the seemingly impossible dream of survival refuses to die.

Victory, however, owed as much to Chelsea's lethargy as it did to Wednesday's tenacious spirit which had been given a renewed sense of purpose following their win at Wimbledon on Wednesday.

As performances go, before what is undoubtedly their biggest game of the season against Barcelona on Tuesday, then Chelsea could not have given a more depressing rendition.

Their failure to raise themselves against the relegation-haunted Owls was patently evident, particularly during a dire first half, as they clearly seemed to have one eye on their heavyweight Champions League quarter-final.

If there were any spies from the Catalan giants sitting in the Hillsborough stands looking on, then they must have thought they were at the wrong match.

Compared to Chelsea's devastating performance in their 3-1 Stamford Bridge destruction of Barca 10 days ago, this display must have undoubtedly worried Vialli.

True, he did rest the likes of Frank Leboeuf, Dennis Wise, Gianfranco Zola, Albert Ferrer and Jon Harley, but the talent that took to the pitch was still world class.

Admittedly, the Owls have more to play for given their plight at the foot of the table and they deserved the three points, but Chelsea's quality should ultimately have prevailed.

Two weeks ago, on his side's last visit to Yorkshire, Vialli had witnessed another pitiful showing against Leeds at Elland Road. On that occasion, however, Chelsea just did enough to scrape a 1-0 victory against a United team who have since suffered an alarming side in the last few weeks.

Such a defeat is also another hammer blow to Chelsea's hopes of at least finishing in the Premiership's top three, and with it another crack at the Champions League.

At this rate Chelsea will now have to lift the trophy in May if they are to compete on Europe's biggest stage next season.

As for Wednesday, playing in the domestic top flight is still within their grasp as another priceless win means they are now just five points adrift of safety and with momentum on their side.

Their application and attitude towards such a mountainous task at least shone through in the opening 45 minutes, even if the closest they came to breaking the deadlock was when Gilles De Bilde fired into the sidenetting from an acute angle.

But then five minutes after the restart the game finally came to life, and in controversial fashion after De Bilde had been sent clear by strike partner Andy Booth.

De Bilde's pace gave him the edge on Chelsea centre-back and former Owls team-mate Emerson Thome, who was left on the seat of his shorts after a delightful drag-back by the Belgian forward.

It left him with keeper Ed De Goey to beat, but as he rounded the giant Dutchman he was tripped in the process, which led to referee Paul Durkin immediately pointing to the spot.

As last man, De Goey should have been sent off, but Durkin only produced a yellow to a chorus of boos around Hillsborough - which continued to ring out every time the keeper touched the ball.

De Goey could do nothing about Wim Jonk's penalty as he dived the wrong way, giving his fellow countryman his first goal since November 21.

After De Goey had cleanly plucked a goalbound Booth header out of the air in the 57th minute, the most hair-raising few moments of the game then followed for the Owls.

George Weah first struck the base of the post with a riveting 18-yarder, before then hitting the crossbar moments later after keeper Kevin Pressman had lost a Peter Atherton pass-back.

Pressman quickly redeemed himself with a flying save low to his left, using his fingertips to push away a searing Gustavo Poyet shot after he was set up by Marcel Desailly and Chris Sutton.

That was as it good as it got for Chelsea as Wednesday then saw out the final 25 minutes without too much alarm on a day when the Hillsborough disaster was remembered.

On the 11th anniversary of the tragedy, fans from both sides paid their respects to the memory of the 96 men, women and children who died during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

Several bouquets of flowers adorned the memorial outside the stadium, while a Liverpool shirt and scarf lay across the top of the stone monument.

Teams:

Sheff Wed: Pressman, Haslam, Atherton, Walker, Hinchcliffe, Alexandersson, Jonk, Horne (Briscoe 65), Quinn, Booth, De Bilde (Sibon 73).

Subs Not Used: Sonner, Cresswell, Srnicek.

Goals: Jonk 51 pen.

Chelsea: De Goey, Lambourde, Desailly, Thome, Babayaro, Petrescu (Dalla Bona 46), Poyet, Morris (Deschamps 46), Ambrosetti (Flo 70), Sutton, Weah.

Subs Not Used: Hogh, Hitchcock.

Booked: De Goey, Desailly.

Att: 21,743

Ref: P Durkin (Dorset).