The swagger of the current kings of London was reduced to a heavy-footed trudge yesterday after a Wimbledon side, at their uncharitable best, and a chill wind blew Chelsea's championship prospects into cool perspective.

Wimbledon, after plucking a gift of an equaliser midway through the first half, merely stuck to their simple, smothering plan - and that was enough to keep a discordant Chelsea and a quiet Stamford Bridge subdued. On this evidence, Chelsea's title aspirations are the stuff of Disney dreams.

There was little imagination, let alone fantasy, from Ruud Gullit's team, even after Gianfranco Zola was brought off the bench just past the hour. Yet the plot had started so promisingly for Chelsea. In the eighth minute, Tor Andre Flo cleverly outmanoeuvred Dean Blackwell on the by-line and his low cross was jabbed home by Gianluca Vialli. It was this Italian's 12th goal in 15 games and the Bridge settled back in confident expectation.

Ed De Goey and his colleagues were scarcely troubled until one of them, Frank Sinclair, lost concentration and presented a gift straight to the feet of the diligent Michael Hughes. Sinclair's back pass fell woefully short and the Wimbledon midfielder veered wide of the goalkeeper before planting the ball into the far corner.

Chelsea never really recovered from this 27th-minute setback. In the 57th minute, Sinclair was replaced by Steve Clarke, but by now, Chelsea were also in need of creative repairs. Roberto di Matteo saw a close-range shot parried by Neil Sullivan and Dan Petrescu drove narrowly wide, however, the grip of Blackwell and Ben Thatcher was tightening on Vialli and Flo. Zola arrived, at Vialli's expense, and soon the smaller Italian delivered a shot fortuitously deflected by a Wimbledon foot. Yet by this time, Wimbledon were counting their own close things. Hughes was denied by the sprawling De Goey and Marcus Gayle shot just wide after shrugging off two defenders. Stalemate was inevitable.

Joe Kinnear, thoroughly enjoying his 51st birthday, could not resist a slight dig at Chelsea: "They (Chelsea) hit quite a few long balls early on - and in the end they were forced to."

Gullit, publicly philosophical about an undeniably flat performance, offered his own acerbic view of the opposition. "It's easier to demolish a car than to put a car together," he said.