Middlesbrough made a mockery of crisis talk at the Riverside Stadium by handing Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho his heaviest defeat in English football.

Goals from Fabio Rochemback, Stewart Downing and Aiyegbeni Yakubu condemned the Blues to just their second Premiership defeat of the season, and it was every bit as comprehensive as the scoreline suggests.

Not since November 6th, some 18 matches ago, had Chelsea lost a game in any competition; by contrast, Boro had not collected all three points in a league match at the Riverside Stadium in six attempts.

But a week after they were humiliated 4-0 by visiting Aston Villa, Boro handed out a drubbing to the reigning champions in front of a delighted crowd of 31,037.

Victory over Chelsea follows home wins this season against Arsenal and Manchester United.

Where boos rang out last weekend, there were choruses of "Are you Sunderland in disguise?" and "There’s only one Steve Gibson" as Boro ran riot, with Mourinho scarcely able to believe what he was seeing.

There were barely 80 seconds on the clock when Yakubu found space on the left, turned and rolled the ball into Rochemback’s run. The Brazilian turned away from John Terry and fired past goalkeeper Petr Cech.

Rochemback’s goal sparked an onslaught on a sticky pitch and the visitors might have dragged themselves back into the game by the break.

Schwarzer needed two attempts to deal with Frank Lampard’s 32nd-minute effort, and had to save brilliantly at Hernan Crespo’s feet five minutes later after being wrong-footed by Michael Essien’s swerving drive.

Yakubu’s foray into the box was repelled in the last minute of the first half, but Downing picked up possession on the left and cut inside before firing a left-footed shot beyond Cech to make it 2-0. Mendieta’s failed attempt to flick it home in the middle was a contributory factor as Cech was deceived.

Mourinho replaced Geremi and Joe Cole with Carlton Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips and moved to a 3-5-2 formation. Lampard became increasingly influential and the danger signs were there.

But as Chelsea committed men to attack, they were leaving space at the back and Downing and Rochemback in particular were relishing that as they attempted to link with the lively Yakubu.

Middlesbrough put the result beyond doubt on 68 minutes when Yakubu outmuscled Carvalho to collect Schwarzer’s clearance before cutting inside and blasting a right-footed shot past the helpless Cech to make it 3-0.