Joe Cole's late winner against former club West Ham allowed Chelsea to put the pressure on their Premier League title rivals in the early kick-off at Stamford Bridge.
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Park hunts down Chelsea's Drogba
The 1-0 victory allowed the Blues to climb into second place above Manchester City, who did not kick off until later in the afternoon, and Manchester United, who are not in action until Monday.
It also reduced leaders Arsenal's advantage over their London rivals to two points ahead of the Gunners' own evening kick-off.
The first half was notable only for its free-kick count and referee Howard Webb booking four players - Matthew Etherington and Luis Boa Morte for the visitors and Chelsea duo Mikel John Obi and Salomon Kalou.
Fourth official Steve Tanner was also involved in an investigation when Didier Drogba left the fray midway through the half to complain about an incident that had occurred near the West Ham fans in one corner of the pitch.
It seemed the Ivory Coast striker had been less than happy with a bright light being shined in his eyes from the stands, with a laser pen the most likely 'weapon'.
Free-kicks and flare-ups greatly outnumbered the moments of creative play before referee Webb brought an end to a bad-tempered first half.
Frank Lampard and Alex both fired early free-kicks into the wall and Kalou had been wasteful with a drive from outside the box.
Drogba had come close with a curling effort which just cleared Robert Green's left-hand post and it was a while before the visitors responded.
Ex-Chelsea man Carlton Cole seemed harshly caught offside and there was a flare-up when home goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini fumbled a through-ball and was caught by Boa Morte.
Nolberto Solano almost caught out the home side just after the half-hour mark with a clever lob which ended on the roof of the net with Cudicini back-tracking.
By then Etherington had been booked for tugging back Juliano Belletti and Mikel was shown a yellow card for scything down West Ham's other ex-Chelsea man, Scott Parker. Indeed, the Nigerian was lucky it was not a red.
Kalou's foul on Boa Morte earned him a booking before John Terry's header from a Lampard corner forced Green into the half's only real save.
There was still time before the break for Boa Morte to be booked for a late tackle on Mikel.
There was a chance for Chelsea immediately after the restart, but the recalled Steve Sidwell saw his shot deflected behind off Matthew Upson.
The former Reading man tried again when he met a Lampard corner with a thumping header, but it was far too high.
Lampard and Joe Cole were also off target with subsequent efforts but at least the game had at last taken off as a spectacle.
Belletti was booked in the 55th minute for a foul on Etherington, before Belletti's error let in Boa Morte. In came the shot, but Terry was able to take the sting off it to help Cudicini save.
At the other end Green had to palm away Joe Cole's cross and the goalkeeper was first to the loose ball as Drogba prepared to shoot.
West Ham were looking dangerous as well, though, and Parker sent a curled effort at Cudicini, before Chelsea swapped Sidwell for Shaun Wright-Phillips in the 66th minute.
Lampard was next in the book, with Boa Morte again the man on the receiving end, and the Hammers made a change after Terry had fired across goal and narrowly wide, with Freddie Ljungberg replacing Solano for the last 15 minutes.
Cole's winner was just seconds away, however, with Drogba and then Kalou winning headers and the England man just avoiding stepping offside before rounding Green in style and firing high into the empty net.
The Hammers sent on striker Dean Ashton in search of an equaliser, but Chelsea were not to be denied.
We were belwo par - Drogba
Chelsea striker Didier Drogba admitted the Blues were not at their best in today's 1-0 win over West Ham at Stamford Bridge.
In a fiery encounter, it took Joe Cole's late strike to see off the battling Hammers.
'It was a question of being patient and giving a bit more - I think we were tired (after the Champions League),' Drogba said.
'It was difficult to start and they came strongly in the game, they were sometimes on the limit and we were a bit nervous but in the end we stayed calm and scored.'
Officials launched an investigation towards the end of the first half after Drogba complained of a laser being shined into his eyes.
'You see this green light, but this is a bit of fun I think,' he added on Sky Sports 1.
'The rest of the West Ham fans were good, they supported their team and that is what you want to see, not this.'
Drogba insisted the focus must now be on catching Premier League leaders Arsenal after the Blues moved second.
'We are at the place we deserve to be, we are behind them,' he said.
'I hope we have chances to go in front again.'
Manager Avram Grant said: ' It was not an easy game, West Ham defended very well.
'We created enough chances to win and one of them we scored.
'It's very important because we played very good football until now. It's important to win and we deserved to win.'
'In the first half we had to be busy reacting to their aggressive game, which we had been expecting, but in the second half we played our game and went on to win.
'West Ham were lucky they got only one yellow card in the first 20 to 25 minutes. They were very aggressive and more aggressive than us.'
Curbishley, however, was convinced Cole was marginally offside before slotting Chelsea's winner.
He said: 'There were a couple of things. Carlton Cole thinks he should perhaps have had a foul trying to take Alex on. And it (the offside call) was tight. I think he (Joe Cole) was perhaps slightly off and I have seen it again.
'But it was the linesman's decision and we have just got to get on with it. We just lost a bit of concentration. We lost the first header and Matty Upson got attracted by the second one.
'But it needed someone to pull something out and Joe Cole did that.'
Curbishley also hit back at Grant's claims saying: 'It was a local derby. There were some tackles, some niggly ones in the first half especially, but we were probably on the end of the two worst ones.'
But Curbishley insisted: 'I came here to match up to stop them dictating the game - which is what we did. But perhaps I didn't have enough going the other way.
'If we had got out of here with a point I think most people would have agreed that was a fair result.
'We did a really good job defensively and that was why I was so disappointed with the goal.
'We didn't really fashion any chances to test their goalkeeper so in the final third we didn't have enough but I'm delighted with the way we performed.'
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