20/01/2002  Chelsea 5 West Ham 1
 
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen smashed home 
two goals apiece against 10-man West Ham to hoist Chelsea back 
into the FA Barclaycard Premiership title race on Sunday.

The Dutchman rifled home in the 45th and 60th minutes, 
either side of a superb finish by his strike partner 
Gudjohnsen, to erase memories of the 4-2 defeat by Southampton 
and 2-2 draw at Bolton.

The first half was dominated by Chelsea - and before 
Hasselbaink's polished 45th-minute finish, the home side, 
fielding three strikers in Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen and 
Gianfranco Zola, forced David James to make five smart 
saves.

The pick of these was a spectacular arching dive to tip a 
25-yard Hasselbaink free-kick away from the top corner of his 
net.

Gudjohnsen's 50th-minute bullet finish from 12 yards gave 
the Blues a 2-0 lead - and Hasselbaink completed his brace on 
the hour when he beat James at the second attempt after a Zola 
through-ball.

Just when the 3,000 Hammers fans thought their afternoon 
could not possibly get any worse, Paolo di Canio stamped on 
Jody Morris and was shown the red card by referee Andy 
D'Urso.

But there was still time for Gudjohnsen's cool finish for 
his second, as well as a consolation goal by Jermain Defoe and 
Mikael Forssell's sidefoot finish for the fifth goal for the 
home side.

The home side looked dangerous throughout in the sweeping 
rain - and in the 10th minute, James made his first stop, 
gathered Zola's stinging 20-yard drive at the second 
attempt.

The visiting shot-stopper had a lucky escape in the 16th 
minute when Mario Stanic let fly with another 20-yard 
drive.

The swerve on the ball deceived the Hammers number one and 
he had to palm clear to avoid what would have been a very soft 
goal.

Hasselbaink then unleashed a ferocious 25-yard free-kick, 
which James responded to with a sensational one-handed save to 
tip the ball over his crossbar.

From the resulting corner, Stanic shoved Nigel Winterburn 
out of the way and headed into the net - but D'Urso correctly 
scrubbed off the 'goal' and awarded a Hammers free-kick for 
Stanic's foul.

Chelsea then wasted two fine one-on-one scoring chances. 
First, Hasselbaink raced onto Gudjohnsen's head-on but 
uncharacteristically dallied on the ball, allowing Sebastien 
Schemmel to clear the danger.

Then a terrible piece of defending by West Ham's Tomas 
Repka almost gift-wrapped the opener for Zola.

Repka inexplicably failed to make a simple clearance and 
allowed the ball to run into Zola's path. However, James raced 
from his goalline and made another world-class block.

Joe Cole, the Hammers' most dangerous player, brought a 
save from Carlo Cudicini just before the interval.

The breakthrough the home side richly deserved arrived in 
stoppage time after a Zola corner.

Gudjohnsen's far-post shot was brilliantly blocked again by 
James, but the keeper was finally beaten by Hasselbaink's 
follow-up drive that found its way through a forest of legs 
and into the bottom corner. 

And West Ham's task was made twice as hard five minutes 
after the interval when Terry found Gudjohnsen with a diagonal 
cross. The Icelander delivered a superb bullet finish, with 
the ball ricochetting into James' net via the post to give the 
Blues a 2-0 lead.

Number three arrived 10 minutes later when the Blues broke 
and Hasselbaink outpaced Christian Dailly to reach a Zola 
through-ball. 

James made yet another fine block, but the ball cruelly 
rebounded straight to the Dutchman's feet and he dispatched 
his second goal into an open net. 

Zola danced through the Hammers backline and shot just a 
foot wide of the goal from 16 yards - and then whipped a 
free-kick inches over the bar. 

And there was drama after 69 minutes when di Canio stamped 
on Blues substitute Morris' thigh after a tackle and was 
correctly shown the red card.

The Italian was keen to apologise for his actions and shook 
hands with D'Urso, Morris and Ranieri on his way to the 
tunnel. 

There was a spectacular finale to the match with three 
goals in as many minutes. 

Gudjohnsen first waltzed through the Hammers defence to 
plant his second beyond James' dive - and West Ham sub Jermain 
Defoe hit a fine consolation goal a minute later after a 
precise Schemmel through-ball. 

But Blues sub Forssell tucked home the home side's fifth 
after 89 minutes from a Stanic pass.