Treble From Anelka Restores Home Pride

Delight for Chelsea, a thrashing for Sunderland, and an enforced seat in the stands for Roy Keane. This was far too easy for the home side. But while the five unanswered goals seemed to make the recent surrender of Chelsea's proud run at home faintly unbelievable, there were hints that Luiz Felipe Scolari does need to find differing ways of beating sides that do not just roll over as the visitors did.

Petr Cech, putting in context Liverpool's ending of that remarkable 86-game unbeaten home run the previous week, said before this match: 'When the whistle went at the end it was a really strange feeling for me because I'd never had that experience before. I've lost many league games in my life, but never at Stamford Bridge.' The unbeaten sequence began before Cech arrived in 2004, and while it is doubtful if it will ever be beaten what was evident by the close of the first half was that Chelsea's confidence at home was certainly not dented by Liverpool's win last Sunday.

Cech neatly beat an on-rushing Kenwyne Jones with some swift footwork during one of Sunderland's rare forays forward. Yet while Deco and Frank Lampard oozed class - they possess a deftness of touch and vision removed from most - the home crowd had quietened and Scolari was a touch frustrated by a lack of end product in the first 25 minutes.

Then came the opener. Lampard found Joe Cole on the right. The little midfielder had a scamper inside and hit a shot with his left foot. Marton Fulop saved the effort, but not well enough. It squeezed out from under his body and pinged sideways to Alex who had made the run into Sunderland's penalty area.

The Brazilian's finish brought Chelsea's 1,000th goal in the Premier League. Number 1,001 came very quickly, and was very similar. This time it was Lampard who was on the right and in a shooting position. Instead, though, he slid a reverse pass that wrong-footed Sunderland and again found Alex. Again, he connected from close-in. But now Nicolas Anelka had the final touch for his seventh goal this season - a tally he would add to by half-time.

Scolari had been counting the number of bookable fouls throughout and informing fourth official Andy D'Urso. By 31 minutes three flashes of his palms and an infuriated shrug of his shoulders indicated the count was now at 15 such offenses, including one that certainly seemed worth a yellow and which came from Steed Malbranque on Ashley Cole.

It was late and painful enough to finish the left-back's afternoon. But as Wayne Bridge replaced him in rain now hurtling down, Chelsea had not halted the scoring. Joe Cole picked out Lampard on the edge of the Sunderland area. The ball went to Florent Malouda, then Anelka, and it was 3-0 in added time.

A half-time sit-down, some words from Scolari and seven minutes were all Chelsea needed to score twice more. Keane had talked following the midweek defeat at Stoke about wishing he had withdrawn players as early as the first five minutes.

Here, he waited until the break to replace Malbranque and Martyn Waghorn. But, having given a verbal going-over to Martin Atkinson in the tunnel he was also removed and all he got from his new position was the unpalatable sight of his team being routed.

Joe Cole would be replaced on 63 minutes - to loud applause - by Didier Drogba. Before this, though, he had created wonderfully for Lampard. Once more the England midfielder was allowed inside Sunderland's right and dinked the ball up for Lampard who, with his head, scored his 100th Premier League goal.

Smiles among the home side became broader still when Anelka collected his hat-trick. Sunderland seemed incapable of retaining possession and of providing any resistance. Malouda strolled through then passed to his countryman from inside the visitors' penalty area. Anelka's finish hit Fulop, who had a terrible afternoon, but there was enough on it to make it 5-0.