Liverpool kept up their early season momentum with a 2-0 win at Sunderland, while there was relief all round at the Reebok Stadium as Bolton got off the bottom of the table in fine style with a convincing 3-0 win over Reading.
Elsewhere, Birmingham won 2-1 at Derby, West Ham drew 1-1 with visitors Wigan and hosts Aston Villa beat Fulham 2-1.
Lampard, still playing with a broken toe, scored his fourth goal in 10 days for club and country, after Petr Cech's long ball found striker Didier Drogba with the England midfielder then hitting a low shot from 20 yards out which beat Portsmouth keeper David James.
"When he plays well he is the best, when he doesn't play well he is the second best, he is a fantastic player," Jose Mourinho, Chelsea manager, said of Lampard on BBC TV.
"But I want my team to play better.
"The weather didn't help, it was very, very hot and it cost us a bit. It was not a great performance, but a good result," he added.
Schmeichel heroics not enough
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Schmeichel, right, saved Robin van Persie's
penalty, but Arsenal won [GALLO/GETTY] |
Across London, Schmeichel saved Van Persie's penalty attempt after Michah Richards tripped Aleksandr Hleb in the box, and it was Hleb who would later set up Spanish midfielder Fabregas who smashed a right-foot shot into the roof of the net to snatch three points.
"Now and then we played really well, but now its time to see the reaction to our first defeat of the season, but I am sure it will be OK and we will go on," Man City manager Eriksson said.
"I can't complain about the performance. We stood up to Arsenal and I am rather proud of the way the players played."
It was a dark day for Roy Keane's Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, with Mali midfielder Mohamed Sissoko scoring a nice goal from the edge of the area in the 37th minute and Ukraine striker Andriy Voronin sealing the match with three minutes to go to continue the Reds' unbeaten start to the season.
"In this time and this period when everybody was talking about our performance away last season, I think it was really important to win," Rafael Benitez, Liverpool manager, told Sky Sports television.
"It was important to see different players doing the job, it showed how strong our squad is now."
Bolton breath relief
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Birmingham's Cameron Jerome scored twice in
his side's 2-1 win over Derby [GALLO/GETTY] |
Bolton's 3-0 win over Reading was inspired by Senegal's El-Hadji Diouf and France's Nicolas Anelka, two strikers who reportedly cannot wait to leave the club.
Gary Speed, 37-year-old former Wales midfielder, scored with a powerful header from Diouf's 32nd-minute corner before Anelka scored a 55th-minute tap-in and then set up Norway striker Daniel Braaten to wrap up victory in injury time and ease the pressure on manager Sammy Lee.
At Pride Park striker Cameron Jerome scored a double for visiting Birmingham, one goal either side of Matt Oakley's 51st minute effort for hosts Derby.
Jerome wasted no time in claiming his first goal of the season, scoring after just 32 seconds, and then added the winner just after the hour mark.
Honours were even at Upton Park as Lee Bowyer's 81st minute strike for West Ham cancelled out Wigan midfielder Paul Scharner's spectacular goal from an overhead kick just three minutes earlier.
Aston Villa left it late to beat Fulham 2-1 at Villa Park with Scotland forward Shaun Maloney scoring a last-gasp winner in the 90th minute after the visitors opened the scoring through USA midfielder Clint Dempsey in the sixth minute, and Villa striker Ashley Young's equaliser in the 51st minute.
Finally in Saturday's late match, Everton and Blackburn played out a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park with Roque Santa Cruz's 15th minute goal for the visitors matched by James McFadden's 78th minute effort for the home side.