English Premiership/WBA - 1 Chelsea - 4: For five minutes on Saturday Chelsea fancied they had found themselves a room at the top of the Premiership. Then the sitting tenants belatedly reasserted their pole-squatters' rights. Nevertheless, Arsenal have been warned. Should their week's wobble turn into a serious drift off course, Jose Mourinho's team have the means, method and the mood to overtake the champions and stay in front.
As it is, Chelsea, five points behind a fortnight ago, are now level with the leaders and are six rather than 15 behind on goal difference. In their last two league matches, moreover, they have scored eight times, equalling their total for the previous nine games.
"In Portugal," said Mourinho, "when I had a five- or six-points advantage I knew the championship was finished. Here we were five points behind two weeks ago and now we are level. That is English football. Everybody can beat everybody."
There are more rabbits in the English top division than there used to be and Chelsea's success in skinning two of them, Blackburn Rovers and West Bromwich Albion, on successive weekends has been largely responsible for their closing the gap on Arsenal.
Judgment on the likelihood of Mourinho's side denying Arsene Wenger a fourth title should be reserved until Chelsea again play opponents who can defend with a degree of competence.
As it was, Chelsea did not pose a serious threat here until stoppage-time in the first half when their centre backs succeeded where their strikers had failed.
An unmarked John Terry met Frank Lampard's corner with a diving, twisting header across goal for William Gallas, similarly unattended, to volley them in front. Up to that point, Mourinho's team had moved forward listlessly, lacking width and with Lampard, Joe Cole and Damien Duff running into cul-de-sacs.
The Portuguese boss is as ready as his Italian predecessor Claudio Ranieri to swap players around but, whereas Ranieri tinkered, Mourinho adjusts. Cole gave way to Arjen Robben, Chelsea's £12 million signing from PSV Eindhoven, for the second half. Injury had delayed the young Dutchman's introduction to the side, but his speed and incisiveness are promising to add a crucial dimension to the team's methodical and, at times, prosaic style.
Robben's presence stretched an already frayed West Brom defence. Six minutes into the second half Eidur Gudjohnsen flung himself through a large gap to meet Duff's precise centre and increase Chelsea's lead.
Five minutes later Zoltan Gera followed up a Nwankwo Kanu shot to score but within three minutes Duff had restored Chelsea's two-goal lead after a powerful run by Lampard. The England midfielder completed the scoring in the 81st minute with a low drive.
"Did you put something of yourself into the team?" Frank Burrows, the Scot standing in after Gary Megson departed, was asked. "When we were playing well, yes," said Burrows, "when we were playing shite, no".
