Ten-man Chelsea bounced back from their Carling Cup final defeat with a four-goal destruction of West Ham United at Upton Park.
Even a first-half red card for midfielder Frank Lampard failed to take the shine off a classy Chelsea performance which keeps them in touch with the leaders at the top of the Barclays Premier League.
The Blues smashed three goals in five first-half minutes before Lampard was given his marching orders for pushing Luis Boa Morte in the face in the 34th minute.
The England midfielder had given Chelsea the lead from the penalty spot in the 16th minute and Joe Cole made it two three minutes later.
Michael Ballack added a third in the 21st minute to effectively kill off the match as a contest and defender Ashley Cole completed the rout in the second half.
Chelsea signalled their intent as early as the second minute when they had a Nicolas Anelka goal ruled out for offside.
West Ham found themselves under siege immediately but former Chelsea striker Carlton Cole alleviated some of the pressure with a 25-yard effort which fizzed over the crossbar.
Chelsea's early pressure earned them a penalty in the 15th minute when Salomon Kalou was brought down by Anton Ferdinand.
Former West Ham midfielder Lampard converted the resulting spot-kick to put Avram Grant's side into the lead.
Four minutes later another West Ham old boy made it 2-0 to the visitors when Anelka got away from the home defence and supplied Joe Cole on the edge of the penalty.
flying save
Cole, who missed out on a place in Chelsea's starting line-up for the Carling Cup final, drilled a low angled shot into the far corner to put the Blues in total command.
Chelsea looked dangerous with every attack and Ballack made it three in the 22nd minute. Anelka and Lampard combined on the left flank before the England midfielder crossed for Ballack to hit the ball into the corner on the half volley.
Chelsea almost made it four in the 27th minute when Anelka's flicked header was collected under the bar by West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green.
West Ham were clearly shell-shocked by Chelsea's three-goal salvo but Boa Morte and Carlton Cole got little joy against John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho.
However, Mark Noble brought a fine flying save out of Petr Cech in the 31st minute when he let fly with a 20-yard rising drive.
In the 34th minute when Lampard was sent off by referee Peter Walton. The Chelsea midfielder tangled with Boa Morte on the ground and appeared to push the West Ham player in the face as he attempted to get up.
Chelsea's resolve to defend their three-goal advantage was clearly evident from the restart with Paulo Ferreira having to go off for attention to a blow in the face.
The Blues were content to sit back and soak up what pressure the home side could muster.
comfortable winners
Ashton's introduction gave the Hammers more height in attack but Terry and Carvalho continued to comfortably deal with any threat.
But in the 58th minute Chelsea's determination was underlined when Terry raced back to clear a lob from Carlton Cole off the goal-line.
The Chelsea captain hooked the ball out from underneath the crossbar when a goal looked certain.
West Ham continued to press for a way back into the game but Chelsea are masters at last-ditch defending and they doggedly kept the home side at bay.
Ten-man Chelsea made it four in the 63rd minute when Joe Cole's shot was superbly saved by Green only for Ashley Cole to pass the ball into the net from an acute angle.
West Ham had no answer to Chelsea's dominance and Essien was unlucky to add a fifth with 10 minutes remaining when his long-range effort flew just too high.
In the end West Ham ran out of ideas and Chelsea, even with a man down, ran out comfortable winners.
