30/10/2005  Chelsea 4 Blackburn 2
 
Two goals inside the first 13 minutes from Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard had put Chelsea on course for a rout but a brace from Craig Bellamy - his second courtesy of a dreadful error from Blues keeper Petr Cech - had levelled matters by the interval.

Lampard rescued the Blues with a superb second-half free-kick and a fourth from Joe Cole ensured Mourinho's men maintain their healthy lead at the top of the table.

After a week when Mourinho's side had dropped their first points in the Barclays Premiership against struggling Everton and been dumped out of the Carling Cup by Charlton, Chelsea produced the perfect response.

It took them just 10 minutes to take the lead as Blackburn's defensive frailties were cruelly exposed. Blackburn failed to clear Lampard's initial corner and when the England midfielder returned the ball into the middle once more, Drogba steered a clever near-post header beyond the stationary Brad Friedel.

Two minutes later it got even better for the home side when they increased their advantage from the penalty spot.

Blackburn captain Andy Todd brought down John Terry as the Chelsea defender tried to get his head to Lampard's corner and Riley immediately pointed to the spot. Lampard converted the spot-kick to put the Blues in complete control and take his tally for the season into double figures.

However, Blackburn earned themselves a lifeline in the 18th minute when Ricardo Carvalho brought down Zurab Khizanishvili in the penalty area and Craig Bellamy scored from the spot.

Blackburn's goal had taken some of the sting out of Chelsea's attacking desire and for the first time in the game, the home side were forced to concede bouts of possession to their opponents.

In the 36th minute Brett Emerton forced Petr Cech to five low to his right to keep out a fierce drive after the Dutchman had engineered the opening with a lucky deflection off Claude Makelele.

Chelsea were now finding it difficult to rediscover the form they showed in the first quarter but Blackburn lacked the guile and creativity to profit from the lull in the home side's attacking flair.

Bellamy was often left to forage for scraps on his own in attack but they equalised thanks to a dreadful individual error from Cech.

The Czech international attempted to clear a back pass from Asier del Horno but only succeeded in slicing the ball high inside his own penalty area.

Shefki Kuqi beat Terry in the air and when the ball bounced free, Bellamy ran on to head the ball under the red-faced Cech for the leveller.

Bellamy's brace meant Chelsea had conceded two goals at home in the Premiership for the first time since Bolton achieved the feat last November.

But the home side were determined to restore their advantage and for the first few minutes after the re-start their attacking flair returned with a flourish.

Lampard forced Friedel to go down low to his right to stop a trademark 20-yard effort from sneaking inside the right-hand post while Drogba could not direct a free header beyond the Blackburn keeper from six yards.

Blackburn manager Mark Hughes then displayed his displeasure with one of referee Riley's decisions by kicking the physio's bag on the touchline.

Fourth official Trevor Kettle was not impressed with the way Hughes let off steam and brought the matter to Riley's attention. The official immediately responded by sending the Blackburn boss out of the dug out.

Meanwhile, the tempers continued to increase in line with the tempo of the game and Morten Gamst Pedersen found himself in Riley's notebook after a a challenge on Wright-Phillips in the 58th minute.

Four minutes later Tugay was shown the yellow card for hauling down Lampard and it was a costly error for Rovers as the England midfielder picked himself and fired home a 25-yard free-kick.

The fabulous strike was the 100th league goal of his glittering career and took his tally for the season to 11. Minutes later he almost began work on the next century of goals when he he sent a 20-yard shot just wide of Friedel's left-hand upright.

In the 74th minute, Chelsea made the game safe when Cole's 20-yard shot was deflected into the net by Blackburn's Khizanishvili.

However, the champions almost conceded a third moments later when Bellamy spurned the chance of a hat-trick by firing over the bar with just Cech to beat.

But Chelsea remained in complete control and Mourinho's boast that they will be champions this season looks ominously accurate.