Charlton's Jason Euell bagged a brilliant brace at the jubilant Valley to almost certainly wreck Chelsea's lingering dreams of Champions League football.

The striker smashed a fine 71st-minute volley and - after Frank Lampard had levelled - came up with a cheeky lob with just two minutes left for the winner.

The only real moments of excitement in a desperately dull first half were when referee Graham Poll snubbed what appeared a clear penalty for the Addicks after William Gallas' tackle on Euell - and when Charlton's Jorge Costa made a brilliant sliding tackle to deny Eidur Gudjohnsen.

But the second half of this London derby was thankfully far more entertaining and Euell ended the Addicks' 352-minute barren goalscoring spell with a superb 18-yard volley.

The home defence allowed Lampard far too much space with just seven minutes left and he powered the ball home from six yards but Euell snatched the points at the death.

French centre-back Gallas had returned to the Chelsea backline after a six-match absence with an ankle injury, while Mario Melchiot was back at right-back after a three-game ban.

For the midtable Addicks, 21-year-old Jon Fortune kept his place in central defence alongside Costa due to Mark Fish's lay-off with a knee problem.

The home side had a great shout for a penalty turned down by referee Graham Poll in the ninth minute. Mathias Svensson flicked a header inside to Euell, who poked the ball past Gallas - and the Blues man stuck out his boot and caught the Charlton striker on the knee, sending him tumbling. However Poll shook his head.

The hosts went close to taking the lead after 26 minutes after a towering far-post header by the impressive Svensson. Skipper Graham Stuart flicked the ball on and Emmanuel Petit cleared as Euell prepared to pounce.

Svensson also forced Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini into action with a 25-yard curler.

Charlton centre-back Costa denied Chelsea the first goal of the afternoon three minutes before the break, with a sensational sliding tackle to prod the ball away from Gudjohnsen's feet.

Lampard's hopeful ball forward had curled into the Icelander's path but, after he brought the ball under control and prepared to shoot, Portuguese international Costa recovered to make a magnificent challenge 10 yards from goal.

Charlton's Paul Konchesky let rip with a fine drive after a one-two with Euell early in the second half. Cudicini did very well to make a smart save low to his left.

And Charlton finally made their possession pay with a superb goal by Euell in the 71st minute.

Powell launched a deep cross from the left and Svensson - enjoying a great performance after months of injury trouble - leaped highest to head the ball back to Euell, on the edge of the penalty area.

The former Wimbledon man calmly chested the ball down and smashed a brilliant right-foot volley into the bottom left corner for his 10th goal of the season.

Only a fantastic double-block by Gallas prevented the Addicks increasing their lead two minutes later.

Cudicini spilled the ball under pressure from Svensson and Euell flicked the ball goalwards - only for the French defender to acrobatically clear off the line. The ball fell to Svensson and Gallas again made a great point-blank clearance on the line.

But Chelsea equalised when Lampard smashed the ball home from six yards to level the scores with seven minutes left.

Gudjohnsen won a great knockdown from Le Saux's far-post cross and Hasselbaink flicked the ball to the England international - who almost ripped the net with a blistering close-range finish.

And there was late drama when a lofted Chris Bart-Williams pass bounced through the Blues defence and Euell raced clear to dink a marvelous chip over Cudicini for the 88th-minute winner.

Teams:

Charlton: Kiely, Young, Fortune, Costa, Powell, Stuart, Bart-Williams, Parker, Konchesky (Kishishev 90), Svensson (Brown 90), Euell.

Subs Not Used: Ilic, Kinsella, Johansson.

Booked: Konchesky, Powell.

Goals: Euell 72, 89.

Chelsea: Cudicini, Melchiot, Petit, Gallas, Babayaro (Gronkjaer 75), Stanic (Forssell 83), Morris (Zola 75), Lampard, Le Saux, Gudjohnsen, Hasselbaink.

Subs Not Used: de Goey, Dalla Bona.

Booked: Melchiot.

Goals: Lampard 83.

Att: 26,354

Ref: G Poll (Tring).