Frank Lampard scored twice yesterday to lead Chelsea to a record 5-0 win over Blackburn and first place in the English Premier League.
Chelsea dominated throughout and led at half-time through an own goal by Gael Givet before four second-half goals at Stamford Bridge sealed their biggest-ever win in 102 years of games against Rovers.
Lampard scored with a firm shot, Michael Essien scored from about 35 yards, Lampard hit a penalty and Didier Drogba headed in - all by the 64th minute - as Chelsea recovered from last week's 1-2 loss at Aston Villa.
"We wanted to bounce back and we've done it in style today," Lampard said. "It was a determined performance and we've shown a little bit of what we're about."
Chelsea now lead by two points from defending champions Man-chester United, which could retake top spot if they win at fierce rivals Liverpool in one of today's four matches.
Tottenham, Aston Villa and Sunderland all missed good chances to close on the leaders yesterday.
Tottenham could have gone level on points with Manchester United with a victory but stayed in third place after a 1-0 loss to visiting Stoke, while Aston Villa drew 1-1 at lowly Wolves.
Sunderland were hoping to move into the top four but lost 1-2 at Birmingham.
59th-minute penalty
Givet put Chelsea ahead in the 20th minute when he redirected Nicolas Anelka's pass into his own net, but the Blues had to wait until three minutes into the second half to score again.
Lampard rushed into the area to smash in a rebound and nine minutes later Essien scored with a similarly fierce shot from about twice as far out.
Lampard scored a 59th-minute penalty following a foul by Ryan Nelsen on Drogba, and the Cte d'Ivoire striker rounded off the scoring with a close-range header from a corner.
Chelsea twice beat Blackburn 5-1, most recently in 1964.
The Blues moved up to 24 points from 10 games, two more than United and five more than Tottenham, which dominated visiting Stoke but played the last 13 minutes with 10 men after an injury to winger Aaron Lennon and conceded a goal with four minutes left.
Ricardo Fuller burst down the right at White Hart Lane and cut a pass back to substitute Glenn Whelan, who smashed a shot past goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes.
"We had so many chances, the keeper's made great saves, they've kicked shots off the line and they've only had one shot worth talking about," Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said.
Tottenham's third loss of the season left them likely to be overtaken by Arsenal and Manchester City today. The fourth-place Gunners are at West Ham, while fifth-place Manchester City host Fulham. Bolton host Everton in today's other match.