Eidur Gudjohnsen hauled Chelsea's Barclaycard Premiership title bid back from the brink of oblivion at the City of Manchester Stadium to reward the Tinker Man Claudio Ranieri for an inspired late gamble.

With his side about to fall 11 points adrift of league leaders Arsenal and looking virtually toothless in attack, the Italian turned to Gudjohnsen to get the goal to give their championship challenge fresh impetus.

As Manchester City were dominant and continued to be so long after the Icelandic striker's arrival, it was a dangerous move but it paid off nine minutes from time as Gudjohnsen split a City defence appealing in vain for offside and finished off Wayne Bridge's excellent pass.

The win takes Chelsea above Manchester United into second spot on goal difference and while the major impact of the result will be felt at the top of the table, it also plunges City back into crisis at the bottom and still without a home league win since October 18.

Yet, not for the first time this season, Kevin Keegan is left scratching his head at a result which did no justice to his team's efforts and would have brought them victory had Robbie Fowler not wasted three chances at the start of the second half.

Three weeks ago, after his side had registered their seventh successive home draw against Birmingham, Keegan asked which of the 17 sides who had visited City's plush new home had dominated the hosts.

The list extended to just two names; Portsmouth and Leicester, and Chelsea were in little danger of adding their name to it during a dismal first half-hour which gave the lie to the importance of victory.

City won all the significant personal duels and with Shaun Wright-Phillips terrorising Bridge down the right flank, it seemed Chelsea were certain to crack.

That they did not was partly due to the solidity of central defensive duo John Terry and William Gallas but mostly because City lacked the true cutting edge in the final third.

Jon Macken was unlucky to see his audacious back-heeled flick to Wright-Phillips' low cross bounce just wide, although Carlo Cudicini would argue that he probably had it covered.

Other than that, it was all approach work and no end product and, having taken 30 minutes to find any sort of form, Chelsea sprang into life and created three excellent opportunities before the opening period drew to a close.

It was no surprise that Frank Lampard was the inspiration behind the Londoners' revival.

The England midfielder was twice denied by former West Ham team-mate David James. The first was a well-watched tip-over from a chip which appeared to be dipping in, the second a close-range header the goalkeeper initially fumbled but gathered before a Chelsea striker could pounce.

James' best save though came a minute before the break when a previously anonymous Hernan Crespo rose to meet Geremi's near-post corner and flashed a header towards goal with such ferocity, it was fortunate Richard Dunne was on hand to hoof the inevitable rebound away from danger.

If Chelsea had wondered how they had not managed to score from that brief period of pressure, Fowler must have been equally puzzled that he failed to convert a hat-trick of chances inside the first three minutes of the second period.

The first opportunity, 20 seconds after the restart, was by far the best as the former England striker raced behind Glen Johnson to reach Wright-Phillips' threaded pass but, with just Cudicini to beat, sent his shot wide.

Fowler then saw his fine volley dip just over before failing to find the target with a header from Michael Tarnat's cross.

The veteran German full-back also provided Antoine Sibierski with the shooting chance that he sent inches wide as the flurry of City attacks continued.

For all the pressure, the one gripe was that Cudicini was not actually being made to work, although that accusation was swiftly countered when Sylvain Distin rose to meet a Tarnat corner and powered a downward header towards goal that the Italian somehow kept out with his feet.

With his side's title hopes disappearing in a sky blue avalanche, Ranieri turned to Gudjohnsen.

It looked like a move doomed to fail when the Icelandic striker bobbled his first shot five yards wide of the City goal. Ultimately though, it proved to be a masterstroke.

Teams

Man City James, Dunne, Distin, Van Buyten, Tarnat, Wright-Phillips, Reyna, Sibierski, McManaman, Macken (Sinclair 72), Fowler.

Subs Not Used: Arason, Barton, Bosvelt, Jihai.

Chelsea Cudicini, Johnson, Terry, Gallas, Bridge, Geremi (Huth 71), Lampard, Parker, Cole (Makelele 45), Crespo, Hasselbaink (Gudjohnsen 65).

Subs Not Used: Sullivan, Duff.

Booked: Gallas.

Goals: Gudjohnsen 82.

Att: 47,304

Ref: R Styles (Hampshire).