Chelsea look the real deal

English FA Premiership/Charlton Athletic 0; Chelsea 4: Chelsea continue to mount a powerful case for celebrating the 50th anniversary of their one league title by winning another. In all probability they will visit Arsenal on Sunday week looking like champions-in-waiting.

Given that the season has not yet reached halfway Chelsea are still in for a long wait. But, as their coach, Jose Mourinho, observed at the Valley on -Saturday: "For me pressure is not being top. When you are top you just have to think about yourself and we have showed we can cope with being leaders."

Mere coping is something of an understatement. In fact Charlton copped it as severely as Fulham had done at Craven Cottage and West Bromwich at the Hawthorns. For the third time in successive away Premiership games Chelsea scored four and could have had more.

The pattern was a familiar one, with Chelsea taking the lead, dropping their guard slightly, then blowing the opposition away amid a cannonade of goals.

Alan Curbishley felt his Charlton team had not been outplayed in the manner of their 4-0 defeat at Highbury. Maybe so, but they were outplayed nonetheless.

If the Premiership were a department store Chelsea's football would be earthenware compared with Arsenal's bone china, equally decorative but more practical and less fragile. Their domination of fair-to-middling teams such as Charlton and Fulham stems from the strength and pragmatism of their midfield.

On Saturday, Frank Lampard, Claude Makelele and Tiago ran the game from the outset. Charlton simply could not get hold of the ball and, when they did, possession was brief. Matt Holland and Danny Murphy are sound, experienced midfielders, but here they were reduced to scampering around the fringes of the play vainly looking for ways to get involved.

Charlton's spell of optimism occupied the space of just two minutes towards half-time when a free-kick from Talal El Karkouri was nodded on by Jonathan Fortune and Ricardo Carvalho headed the ball against his own near post. Seconds later, Fortune met Murphy's corner with a goalbound header which was inadvertently blocked by Jonatan Johansson.

Charlton's form remains fitful, promising one moment, prosaic the next. When they win they win well, when they lose they lose horribly.

Chelsea won the match in an hour and devoted the rest to a practice session designed to rest limbs for what lies ahead as well as giving the newly recovered Didier Drogba a leg-stretcher. His daunting pace and power will pose a considerable threat to Arsenal, but his return presents Mourinho with the problem of whom to leave out of an attack in such prolific form.

The obvious candidate is Eidur Gudjohnsen, who made way for Drogba on Saturday, but the Icelander's ability to link up movements is not lightly discarded.

Gudjohnsen's was the shrewdly judged pass in the fourth minute which gave Damien Duff the opportunity to outpace Paul Konchesky on the right before cutting in to squeeze the ball past Dean Kiely from a tight angle and give Chelsea the lead.

Gudjohnsen went on to give an immaculate exhibition of the centre-forward's art in holding the ball up and consistently bringing Duff and Arjen Robben into the action.

He fully deserved his goal, Chelsea's fourth, which was set up for him by Robben and Lampard shortly before he gave way to Drogba.

No doubt Drogba and Gudjohnsen could pair up successfully, but that would mean leaving Robben or Duff on the bench and it is the width this pair give Chelsea's attack which is contributing so much to their run.

If Charlton had congratulated themselves on reaching half-time without conceding further goals they were swiftly disillusioned. Corners from Duff both led to a goal from John Terry, who headed one and scooped in the other after Carvalho's nod back was poorly dealt with by Radostin Kishishev.

Terry is now the authority figure for Chelsea that Tony Adams used to be for Arsenal. "He is inspirational in the way he is a winner," said Mourinho.

At the moment it is hard to detect a weakness in Mourinho's side. They are sounder than Arsenal defensively, more reliable in goal, and on Saturday they overtook the champions on goal difference.