Chelsea prolong festivities

West Ham 1 Chelsea 3The fixtures come thick and fast over the festive period but Chelsea are quicker still. With four wins since St Stephen's Day they are accelerating towards the title. Much more of this and the principal competitive element in the Premiership will be the side's attempt to surpass last season's points total.

Occasions such as this, though, do have individual characteristics. Frank Lampard, booed lustily on this return to his old club, responded by scoring the opener and was the last player to leave the field at full-time, clapping at the emptying stands.

"I would like to come back and get a bit of respect," said the midfielder, "but not many give me that here so I'll just carry on working for Chelsea."

The hostility towards Lampard followed the same path as the intensity of the contest, declining steeply. Chelsea imposed themselves entertainingly after conceding an unexpected equaliser in the 46th minute and substitute Eidur Gudjohnsen glanced the ball around so beautifully Jose Mourinho called him the "blond Maradona".

But the Chelsea manager's mood was free of whimsy when he brooded over the reason for the Icelander's introduction after a mere 13 minutes. Michael Essien's ankle and foot were so swollen by a challenge from Nigel Reo-Coker that, according to Mourinho, he could not walk last night, yet there was no booking for the West Ham midfielder.

"I can imagine what would happen if it was (the other way round)," Mourinho remarked of Reo-Coker's tackle.

"Essien was on TV for 15 days," the manager grumbled. "He is suspended from the Champions League. He cannot tackle or it is immediately a yellow card."

Chelsea await the scans on the Essien injury. If the ankle is broken it will rule the midfielder out of the African Nations Cup later this month as well as increasing the pressure on Chelsea to seal the deal to bring Maniche to the club on loan from Dynamo Moscow. The Portuguese international is expected to join until the end of the season with Chelsea then having the option to buy him on a two-year contract for around £5 million.

Mourinho's forwards had been instructed to work leg-weary defenders hard. With 10 minutes remaining, Didier Drogba had the vitality to break beyond Paul Konchesky and drill Gudjohnsen's long pass beyond Roy Carroll for Chelsea's third goal.

Alan Pardew refuses to be disturbed by West Ham's lack of a home win since November and is probably justified in believing his side are "more than competitive" at their own level.

He need not fret, for instance, that mid-table rivals will bring on a renowned centre-forward after an hour who will score in a minute. With the sides tied at 1-1, Arjen Robben freed Hernan Crespo to round Carroll and slot the ball home in the 61st minute. Crespo then curled a finish wide after another piece of service by Robben and volleyed over from a Drogba cross. The Argentinian eventually went off with what appeared to be a pulled muscle.

Pardew's team had restricted Chelsea for a while, with Carroll, making a particularly good save from the influential Robben, and the goal they did concede in the 25th minute was avoidable. Geremi's long throw-in eluded both Drogba and Anton Ferdinand before the home midfielder Yossi Benayoun inadvertently headed down invitingly for Lampard to score crisply on the half-volley.

With reference to the fixture congestion, Mourinho commented that he "saw some players making mistakes that they normally don't do". He may have been thinking of the slackness of John Terry in the opening seconds after the interval. Reo-Coker and Marlon Harewood capitalised, the latter's finish bouncing off Petr Cech before he followed through to knock the ball over the line.

West Ham faded, however, and Chelsea's ninth consecutive Premiership win began to look inevitable.

WEST HAM UTD: Carroll; Dailly, Ferdinand, Collins, Konchesky,Benayoun, Fletcher, Reo-Coker, Mullins (Zamora 71), Etherington (Bellion 78), Harewood. Subs not used: Hislop, Clarke, Aliadiere. Booked: Fletcher. Goal: Harewood 46.

CHELSEA: Cech, Geremi, Ricardo Carvalho, Terry, Del Horno, Duff (Crespo 60), Essien (Gudjohnsen 13), Lampard, Makelele, Robben, Drogba, Crespo (Wright-Phillips 83). Subs not used: Cudicini, Johnson. Booked: Duff, Lampard, Gudjohnsen. Goals: Lampard 25, Crespo 61, Drogba 80.

Referee: H Webb (S Yorkshire).