English FA Premiership / Chelsea 4 Blackburn 2: Chelsea could hardly be blamed for believing that the championship will all be over by bonfire night, never mind Christmas.
It will not, of course, yet the case for Jose Mourinho's team retaining their title is already looking unanswerable.
On Saturday Chelsea gave a relatively fitful performance against Blackburn Rovers yet still won 4-2. Even if they lose at Old Trafford on Sunday the champions' lead over Manchester United and Arsenal will still be in double figures.
So far those seeking signs of a let-up in Chelsea's momentum have been clutching at draws. Saturday's win put such lapses into a proper perspective.
"Back on track?" Mourinho scoffed. "Ten wins and one draw - back on track? Mamma mia!"
It is hard to argue with the results. And while Chelsea can ill afford any defensive lapses in the Champions League, in which they renew acquaintances with Real Betis tomorrow night, it seems reasonable to assume that their levels of concentration will be higher in Spain than they were against Blackburn.
Eric Parsons, who played for Chelsea in the 50s and was an ever-present in their 1955 championship-winning side, was a special guest at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. At half-time he must have been thinking that nothing much had changed from the old vaudeville days. For having taken a 2-0 lead in the 14th minute they proceeded to lose it by the 44th. Blackburn, having won at Manchester United and lost narrowly at Liverpool, must have fancied their chances.
Frank Lampard put the kibosh on that just past the hour with a free-kick from the left that was aimed at John Terry but missed everybody and ended up in the net. This, added to his earlier penalty, completed the midfielder's 100 goals in club football.
Mourinho declared Lampard the best in the world at present, an accolade which should surely wait until he has played against the world's best. Nevertheless he is in outstanding form.
Once Didier Drogba had glanced Lampard's centre past Brad Friedel after 10 minutes, followed four minutes later by Lampard's penalty after Andy Todd grabbed Terry in a panic, the contest seemed over. Another four minutes, however, and Ricardo Carvalho's lunge brought down Zurab Khizanishvili, enabling Craig Bellamy to bring Blackburn into the game from the other penalty spot.
A minute before half-time Petr Cech met Asier Del Horno's pass back with a wild sliced clearance and Shefki Kuqi's header set up Bellamy to bring the scores level.
"I told the players we had scored four goals in the first half," said Mourinho. "So we have to score more goals but at the right end." Lampard and Joe Cole duly obliged and in the end Blackburn were well beaten.
At times Mark Hughes' side justified their recent league run of three wins in four matches.
But they paid heavily for silly fouls, not only the penalty Todd gave away but the trip on Cole by Tugay, which produced Lampard's crucial free-kick. Otherwise the neat, thoughtful Tugay was Blackburn's best player.
Hughes got himself dismissed from the dugout in the second half for boiling over once too often. Mike Riley booked five Blackburn players, as well as Cole, for not very much and Hughes felt the referee might have been influenced by Cech recalling in the match programme, a challenge from Paul Dickov in a previous encounter which "almost ripped my stomach".
Maybe, but this argument was shot down by the fact that Riley has shown 44 yellow cards, and two red, in eight Premiership matches.
Guardian Service
