English FA Premiership/Chelsea - 4 West Ham - 1: Jose Mourinho can go back to worrying about the dead swan in Scotland. His team could not settle the race for the Premiership title yesterday but after a week of rumours concerning Chelsea's dressing-room harmony their 16th home victory of the season represented the firmest possible statement of collective resolve. If Alex Ferguson was genuinely nurturing a belief a late run from Manchester United might unsettle the champions, his hopes will be framed from a different and less optimistic perspective now.

For 20 minutes, nevertheless, the chase for the title came alive at Stamford Bridge. West Ham went a goal up, Chelsea went a man down and the chilly breeze seemed to carry the sound of cheering all the way from Manchester. Then, with two goals in as many minutes, Mourinho's team slammed the door.

"Dive in a minute, he's going to dive in a minute," the visiting fans sang at Didier Drogba in the opening minutes but he never did. Instead the £24-million forward gave a demonstration of the centre-forward's art unlikely to be bettered on an English pitch this season. When Mourinho withdrew Drogba in injury-time, allowing him to enjoy a personal ovation, the cautionary finger raised to the manager's lips as he greeted his player seemed to suggest Drogba had done his talking where it counted.

Although the partnership of Ivory Coast and Argentina had achieved little when Hernan Crespo came off the bench Drogba in recent matches, Mourinho chose to pair them yesterday in a starting line-up featuring five changes from the side criticised after a goalless draw at St Andrew's eight days earlier. Arjen Robben and Ricardo Carvalho were relegated to the bench while total banishment was the fate of Paulo Ferreira, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Damien Duff.

Joe Cole, said to be unhappy with his lack of game-time in recent weeks, was again among the substitutes. Afterwards Mourinho said his selection had been based on his view of the way the individuals had performed during an unusually intense week of preparation.

When Michael Essien, Frank Lampard, Claude Makelele and Maniche lined up for the kick-off, the side looked overstuffed with central midfield specialists. That problem was resolved after 16 minutes when Maniche went for a 50-50 ball with Lionel Scaloni near the corner flag, the recklessness of the challenge leaving the referee with little option other than to brandish a straight red card.

Chelsea were already a goal behind, James Collins's powerful near-post header from Yossi Benayoun's corner having defeated the leap of Petr Cech in the 10th minute. For a dozen minutes they showed few signs of the sort of effective reorganisation that characterised their play against Barcelona six weeks ago, when the dismissal of Del Horno prefaced 20 remarkable minutes in which they simply refused to be forced on to the back foot.

This time it was goals rather than a tactical realignment that shifted the balance. As West Ham seemed to drift in neutral, possibly stunned by their double stroke of good fortune, Drogba raced on to Lampard's long pass, stayed on his feet when Collins made a stirring block and guided the rebound towards the goal, where Danny Gabbidon, attempting a desperate clearance, could only slice the ball into the roof of the net.

Two minutes later Drogba accepted a pass from Geremi and hit an angled shot that was deflected by Collins into the path of Crespo, who provided a nerveless finish from close range.

Thereafter the discipline and power of Chelsea's play fully justified Mourinho's claim that they looked as though they were playing with 12 men rather than 10. John Terry increased the lead in the aftermath of a Chelsea corner after 54 minutes, leaning back to volley home from 15 yards after William Gallas's shot had come back off the crossbar. Gallas completed the scoring 15 minutes later, stabbing home after the foreheads of Terry and Drogba had redirected Robben's free-kick.

From a position of adversity, a squad said to be riven with division had produced a remarkable facsimile of the sort of team spirit that wins titles. Only an act of God can stop them now.

l Guardian Service