Like his fabled young compatriot who stuck his finger in the dyke, Guus Hiddink does not shirk from seemingly impossible tasks. On his first day at Chelsea, the interim manager boldly announced that his side could catch Manchester United at the top of the Barclays Premier League and three weeks later they are hovering on their shoulder after three successive wins.

Sir Alex Ferguson will not have been too perturbed as he watched this stuttering Chelsea performance at a hotel in Newcastle before this evening’s engagement at St James’ Park, but the United manager will have recognised their fighting spirit. Like the Scot, Hiddink has the ability to imbue his players with an indomitable will to win and they needed it in dreadful conditions on a sodden South Coast, Didier Drogba settling a match that appeared to be slipping away from them with a 79th-minute goal to close United’s lead to four points.

“They’re an experienced team, but it’s good for everyone in this championship to have the pressure on the side at the top,” Hiddink said. “Four points gives me more pressure to put on them.”

Hiddink has a reputation for being a tactical genius, a deep thinker on the game with more theories than Pythagoras, but his impressive start at Chelsea has been based on something far more straightforward. By challenging his players to take greater responsibility, they are working harder and producing more for themselves and their team-mates. The Brazilian samba school has been replaced by a Dutch labour camp.

Ironically, the previously workshy Drogba has been the biggest beneficiary, with the Ivory Coast striker relishing the new regime. Drogba celebrated only his second Premier League goal of the season as if it had secured the title, but he retained enough energy to head clear a free kick from Niko Kranjcar in added time. A transformation indeed.

“Didier is making the difference in the last few games,” Hiddink said. “As long as he is so committed then he will make those goals as well. He was very happy with his goal. That was an emotional explosion.”

Drogba is not the only player to have exploded into life, as several of his team-mates have raised their game. Michael Ballack flew into tackles, Salomon Kalou threatened down the right and Petr Cech showed signs of regaining his best form, making a superb save from Sean Davis in the first half and denying David Nugent from close range in the second.

Frank Lampard has been a hard worker since the days when he stayed out until dusk practising free kicks on his own as a trainee at West Ham United, and the England midfield player was a class apart last night. Since signing a new contract last summer, Lampard has matured into the ultimate team player, alive to every situation and passing where he would previously have shot. In the first half alone, the 30-year-old released Kalou down the right with a great through-pass, picked out Ballack with a pinpoint corner that he headed over the bar and brought a good save from David James with a powerful left-foot shot.

Portsmouth, too, had their moments, and they have improved dramatically under Paul Hart, the interim manager, who deserves the opportunity that he has been given to keep them up. Hart’s secret has been to speak to the players in a language that they understand and, after being befuddled by Tony Adams, they have responded. With better finishing from Nugent and Kranjcar, they would have claimed a point, although if they can reproduce this performance regularly, they should clamber to safety.

Chelsea should not get too carried away, because all four wins under Hiddink have come by a single goal, but they have an outside chance of achieving their mission impossible.

— Portsmouth confirmed the appointment of Paul Hart as their interim manager last night, with Brian Kidd as his assistant. The club held a board meeting yesterday afternoon, attended by Alexandre Gaydamak, the owner, at which Hart’s appointment until the end of the season was ratified. Portsmouth had hoped to recruit Sven-Göran Eriksson, but he has stayed with Mexico, so Hart has been rewarded for steadying the ship since replacing Tony Adams last month.

Portsmouth (4-3-3): D James — G Johnson, S Campbell, S Distin, H Hreidarsson — H Mullins, N Kranjcar, S Davis — J Pennant (sub: J Utaka, 70min), P Crouch, D Nugent. Substitutes not used: A Begovic, Y Kaboul, N Pamarot, Kanu, A Basinas, N Belhadj.

Chelsea (4-1-2-3): P Cech — J Bosingwa, Alex, J Terry, A Cole — J O Mikel (sub: J Belletti, 57) — M Ballack (sub: M Mancienne, 90), F Lampard — S Kalou (sub: R Quaresma, 60), D Drogba, F Malouda. Substitutes not used: Hilário, B Ivanovic, F Di Santo, P Ferreira.

Referee: P Dowd.