Sunderland 1 Chelsea 2:  Arjen Robben was sent off within seconds of firing Chelsea to victory at battling Sunderland as the Premiership champions were make to work to establish a 16-point lead over Manchester United.

The Dutchman, who had been booked before the break for a foul on Liam Lawrence, struck on 69 minutes, but then received a second yellow card for his celebrations to leave his side down to 10 men.

Lawrence had given the Black Cats a shock 12th-minute lead, but Hernan Crespo levelled 16 minutes later as the Wearsiders' wait for a first league win of the season at the Stadium of Light continued despite a spirited display.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho turned to his big guns once again following last weekend's 2-1 FA Cup third-round victory over Huddersfield as Petr Cech, Asier Del Horno, Terry, Gallas, Claude Makelele, Frank Lampard, Robben and Crespo earning recalls.

By contrast, Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy stuck with the bulk of the side which eased past non-league Northwich Victoria with skipper Gary Breen and Steve Caldwell, who were both suspended last Sunday, returning in place of Alan Stubbs and Neill Collins.

The sides kicked off with 52 points separating the league leaders from the favourites for relegation and the Black Cats being quoted at unprecedented odds of 16-1 to claim a first league win of the season at the Stadium of Light.

Chelsea's intent was clear from the off as Lampard, Cole and Crespo combined to force Black Cats goalkeeper Kelvin Davis to sprint from his line to prevent Cole getting in a shot with just 20 seconds gone.

But it was the Wearsiders who created the first chance of the game after three minutes when striker Jon Stead picked up possession wide on the left and charged forward, before cutting inside and testing Cech at his near post with a low drive.

McCarthy's men were committing plenty of bodies in attack, but they too often managed to pick out Terry at the back with predictable results.

Lampard volleyed over after Caldwell had cleared Del Horno's 10th-minute cross, but against all the odds, the home side took the lead two minutes later.

Gallas gifted possession to Caldwell and Julio Arca's deep cross had Terry back-pedalling anxiously. Although he got to the ball first, Terry's header dropped perfectly for Liam Lawrence to blast a left-footed shot past Cech.

The home fans were on their feet once again on 25 minutes when Arca crossed from the left and Dean Whitehead looked to have got there before Cech, but although the keeper's punch under pressure fell to Stead, an offside flag brought an end to the excitement.

Even the usually-assured Lampard was not having things all his own way, although it was he who sparked the move from which the Londoners got back on terms with 28 minutes gone.

He played Gallas into space down the right and the Frenchman turned Arca inside-out before crossing to the far post where Cole, level with the byline, headed down for Crespo to level from close range.

The Argentinian might have doubled his tally within three minutes when he headed over from Lampard's hooked cross following Robben's quickly-taken throw-in,

Chelsea upped their output in the second half and had Sunderland firmly on the back foot.

Lampard hammered in two long-range efforts in quick succession, and goalkeeper Davis then had to turn away Robben's 57th-minute piledriver with his defence starting to wilt under pressure.

The Londoners by now were virtually camped inside the Sunderland half, and the pressure finally told after 69 minutes when Robben cut in from the right and fired in a shot which clipped Whitehead and flew past Davis into the net.

However, the scorer's joy was cut short when he was booked for the second time in the game for celebrating with the supporters behind the goal and was dismissed.

PA