ASHLEY COLE made his Chelsea debut but fellow defender Ricardo Carvalho grabbed the glory.

Cole started his Chelsea career on the bench and had been on the pitch for only a few seconds when Carvalho grabbed the winner with a thumping header.

Didier Drogba had fired the home team into a sixthminute lead but Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink equalised for Charlton against his former club.

Charlton should have been dead and buried by half-time as Jose Mourinho's champions squandered a string of chances.

But Iain Dowie's team hit back after the break and made Chelsea work hard for the three points.

Marcus Bent had a late goal ruled out for handball and Frank Lampard missed another penalty, late in the game.

Ashley Cole learned his first lesson about life at Chelsea when he started on the bench as Wayne Bridge maintained his place at left-back.

Former Chelsea favourite Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink started up front for the Addicks while Souleymane Diawara made his Charlton debut after his £3.7million move from Sochaux.

Chelsea were quickly in command and Bryan Hughes made a good clearance to deny Lampard in the fourth minute. Bridge aimed a deep cross to the back post where Andriy Shevchenko climbed high to head back across goal.

Lampard came steaming in but Hughes nipped in front to boot the ball behind for a corner.

Charlton's respite was brief, however, and the home took the lead from the set-piece.

Ballack met Lampard's kick with a diving header and again Hughes was there to block. This time his clearance fell kindly for Didier Drogba who forced it into the net for this third goal of the season. It was an awful start for Charlton, who have a good recent record against Chelsea.

Boulahrouz offered Chelsea fans a glimpse of his famed tackling ability with a crunching challenge on Hasselbaink.

Both Dutchmen got up and shook hands but thenn Charlton's Andy Reid was forced out of action after a midfield collision. Reid was replaced by Dennis Rommedahl.

The Dane made an instant impact when he seized on a poor clearance from Bridge and swung a cross towards Bent who headed wide.

Chelsea responded well to the scare and pushed for a second before half-time.

Lampard, who had flashed a shot wide moments earlier, threaded a neat pass to Drogba. The Ivorian was in on goal but side-footed the chance wide.

Ricardo Carvalho then launched a sweeping break out of defence. Carvalho carried the ball from box to box, exchanged passes with Wright-Phillips, and lashed his shot over the bar.

Ballack curled a brilliant left-footer just wide and Shevchenko headed Wayne Bridge's perfect cross straight at Carson when he looked certain to find the net.

Ballack escaped the offside trap just before the break too but glanced his header wide.

Traore made a brave block to stop Shevchenko in firsthalf stoppage time.

Charlton stunned the champions with an equaliser from Hasselbaink in the 54th minute. Rommedahl raced down the right and turned a pass in-field. Carvalho raced out of the back line but mistimed his interception and the ball rolled on to Hasselbaink, who took his time and guided a shot into the bottom corner. Hasselbaink, who spent four years at Stamford Bridge before moving to Middlesbrough, refused to celebrate his goal.

Ashley Cole came on for Bridge in the 62nd minute in a double switch with Salomon Kalou also on for WrightPhillips. Charlton lost Diawara to injury and Chelsea took the lead again when the visitors were down to 10 men.

Chelsea's second, like their first, came from a Lampard corner and this time Carvalho met it with a powerful header. Wiley gave Chelsea a late penalty when Talal El Karkouri was adjudged to have shoved Salomon Kalou off the ball but Lampard missed the spot-kick.