Isaias fires Coventry comeback

CLIVE WHITE

Chelsea finally got off the mark last night as far as goals went, scoring twice in the opening 10 minutes against Coventry at Stamford Bridge, only to register another draw - their third in four games.

Dennis Wise, called up into the England squad for next Wednesday's game against Colombia, opened the scoring in the sixth minute from the penalty spot after David Burrows had brought down Gavin Peacock.

And then, four minutes later, Mark Hughes scored his first goal for the London club since his pounds 1.5m summer transfer from Manchester United when Ruud Gullit curled a 30-yard pass into his path.

Gullit was the inspiration, outfoxing, at that stage, a flat-footed Coventry, even hitting a post in injury time. But the Sky Blues hit back.

Isaias, their new signing from Benfica, scored his first goal for the club on the stroke of half-time, coolly slotting home a cross from Ally Pickering. And then, nine minutes later, the Brazilian was the brains behind Peter Ndlovu's equaliser.

Meanwhile, another newcomer was also scoring his first goal for his new club over at Selhurst Park where Marc Degryse, Sheffield Wednesday's Belgian international, was opening his account and Wednesday's in the10th minute of their match against Wimbledon. This, too, ended all square at 2-2.

Jon Goodman equalised for the Dons after 17 minutes but David Hirst, the one-time England prospect, put David Pleat's team back in front in the first minute of the second half with his first goal since October. "I feel I'm finally getting back towards what I was as a striker," Hirst said afterwards.

His goal, however, was not to be the winner, Dean Holdsworth equalising with a penalty with six minutes remaining after Julian Watts brought down Gary Blissett.

There were goals aplenty in the First Division where Huddersfield, Leicester and Ipswich each scored four times in home wins over Birmingham, Portsmouth and Stoke, respectively. Graham Taylor's much-fancied Wolves also got off the mark with their first win of the season, beating Derby 3-0. Meanwhile, Swindon's 1-1 draw with Oxford in the Second Division was watched by a crowd of 13,041 - more than twice Wimbledon's gate.