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Chelsea went five points clear at the top of the Premier League table after they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Florent Malouda joined Carlos Tevez at the top of the scoring charts after he netted his seventh league goal of the season midway through the first half, before Salomon Kalou came off the bench to make sure of the win.

With second-placed Manchester City playing Arsenal on Sunday, the Blues know they will at least retain the two-point advantage they went into the weekend once the rest of this round of fixtures is completed.

The champions seemed content for Wolves to keep the ball and hit them on the break. Although it was a tactic that paid off, they could have gone behind on six minutes when Matt Jarvis's cross was diverted goalwards, but John Terry was on hand to block it.

Jose Bosingwa completed his return from a long-term injury lay-off by making his first start for Chelsea in a year, and he made his presence felt.

The Portuguese full-back played a neat one-two with Didier Drogba - also returning after missing Chelsea's last two matches through an illness - and he fired in a low strike that Marcus Hahnemann blocked well with his feet.

Terry headed wide from a Drogba free-kick delivery, but the offside flag was already up, before David Edwards could only head a tame effort at Petr Cech from Jarvis's cross.

Jelle van Damme rose to meet another good Jarvis ball but could not get sufficient power on it, and Chelsea raced right up the other end and scored.

Nicolas Anelka charged up the left wing before feeding Yuri Zhirkov, who pulled his pass back from the by-line to tee up Malouda for a simple finish.

The home crowd made it a debut to remember for Stephen Hunt. The Ireland winger collided with Cech while playing for Reading four years ago, with the scrum cap the Czech keeper still wears today a reminder of the skull injury he received in that notorious incident.

Hunt is well used to the abuse from the Blues faithful, having scored at the Bridge on his debut for Hull City last season, and he almost repeated the trick just moments after replacing Van Damme for the second half.

Richard Stearman flicked on a corner at the near post and Hunt dived in to meet the ball with a header that was blocked on the line by Michael Essien.

Not long afterwards, Kevin Doyle forced a good low save at the near post from Cech as Wolves continued to press in the knowledge that, as long as Chelsea's lead was still just the odd goal, they had a chance of levelling.

However, for all the chances they created, they were not able to test Cech sufficiently, with Nenad Milijas firing a pair of strikes too close to the keeper, and Doyle glancing a header from a corner right at him.

In the midst of all this, the threat of a killer second from Carlo Ancelotti's side was ever-present. Malouda fired an effort wide while Hahnemann had to come out of his area to block at the feet of Drogba.

Kalou finally put the result beyond doubt when he capped off a flowing move which saw Drogba find Essien with his back to goal. Essien played a first-time pass into Kalou's path, and the Ivorian swept the ball through the legs of Hahnemann.

Frank Lampard scored four as Chelsea thumped Aston Villa 7-1 at Stamford Bridge to send out a clear message to their title rivals.

The England midfielder hit two penalties and two from open play, Florent Malouda netted twice and Salomon Kalou grabbed another as Chelsea put in one of their best performances of the season - while doing their goal difference a world of good.

Victory saw Chelsea briefly climb two points clear of Manchester United at the top of the table ahead of next weekend's title showdown at Old Trafford, although the champions' 4-0 win at Bolton later in the day knocked the Blues back down into second place.

Lampard had already seen a sighter from 25 yards saved by Brad Friedel before he opened the scoring on 15 minutes. Malouda, once again excellent, was the architect and the Frenchman's whipped cross-shot evaded everyone as it bounced through to the far post, where Lampard slid in to notch his 21st goal of the season.

Number 22 was not far away, although not before Villa had levelled through Carew, himself in a rich vein of scoring form.

The Norwegian's fourth in his last three games was not dissimilar to Lampard's effort as Ashley Young's fiercely-struck cross-shot found its way through to him at the back stick. A simple finish was all that was required, such was the space afforded to him by the napping Yuri Zhirkov.

It was nothing less than Villa deserved at the time, yet Chelsea still went in at the break in the lead after referee Peter Walton pointed to the spot for a foul on Zhirkov by Collins just before the half-time whistle.

The Russian made amends for his earlier error by bursting onto a neat Malouda back heel before going down as Collins appeared to tread on his foot. Lampard converted from 12 yards in typically emphatic fashion.

Chelsea emerged for the second half in a far more focused mood and the hosts' improved play was duly rewarded as Malouda bagged his first of the day on 57 minutes, the Frenchman finishing off a fantastic passing move that ended with a cut-back from Zhirkov.

Zhirkov was again involved in Chelsea's fourth, winning a second penalty of the day as Richard Dunne paid the price for some sluggish defending. Again, Lampard did the business from the spot with the minimum of fuss to register a fifth hat-trick of his career.

Malouda was rewarded for another terrific all-round performance with a second on 68 minutes, this time Lampard turning creator to lay off Zhirkov's cross into his path. The Frenchman did the rest, firing in off the underside of the bar to make it 5-1.

Chelsea's sixth came in the 83rd minute as Kalou beat Friedel following some neat approach play by Anelka before Lampard completed the rout with his fourth and Chelsea's seventh in injury time.

Seven was perhaps harsh on Villa, but Martin O'Neill cannot have failed to be concerned by his side's total capitulation after the break which served to inflict a huge dent in their hopes of grabbing the final Champions League spot.

Braces from Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda helped Chelsea thrash Portsmouth 5-0 at Fratton Park as the Blues move to within a point of Premier League leaders Manchester United.

Torrential rain on the South Coast provided conditions not conducive to good football: Pompey goalkeeper David James was the first victim as he swished his foot wildly at a ball outside his box, only to see it bounce beyond his air-shot and leave Drogba with a simple tap-in after 32 minutes.

That calamitous mistake from the England hopeful was followed by a more conventional goal in the 50th minute as Malouda lashed home an emphatic finish from a tight angle, and a third swiftly followed as the Frenchman followed up Frank Lampard's rasping strike on the hour mark.

Drogba drilled the fourth past James with a clinical finish in the 77th minute, and the instrumental Lampard deservedly capped off the emphatic victory with a close-range header in stoppage time.

Carlo Ancelotti inevitably welcomed back goalkeeper Petr Cech, while Daniel Sturridge was handed a starting berth alongside Drogba as the impotent of late Nicolas Anelka was confined to the bench.

Chelsea dictated the play in the early stages, Drogba muscling his way through on goal in belligerent fashion only to drag his shot wide of James's far post in the sixth minute.

Yuri Zhirkov was an enterprising presence down the left, and the full-back burst into the Portsmouth penalty area at pace five minutes later, but could not steady himself to pick out a clinical finish.

It looked like Chelsea were bracing themselves for a frustrating evening before James hurtled off his line and took a wild swipe at Deco's through ball - then had to look back in horror as Drogba jogged in to tap the ball into an empty net just after the half-hour mark.

The beleaguered Pompey keeper made a stunning reflex save to deny Lampard in the 36th minute and make partial atonement for his aberration after the Chelsea midfielder drove a low shot towards the near post, only to see it tipped wide at the last second.

The Portsmouth supporters were irate in the 40th minute as Malouda was only shown a booking for unceremoniously flooring Ricardo Rocha with a high elbow. The defender was stretchered off, and Avram Grant made an enforced reshuffle.

The second half continued where the first left off with Portsmouth forced to chase shadows for long periods, and both sides made early changes with Joe Cole replacing Sturridge for the visitors.

Within five minutes of the restart Malouda latched on to a pinpoint pass from Lampard down the left, and the Frenchman proceeded to unleash a fierce shot which comprehensively beat James at his near post.

Lampard slipped in Cole who was unable to make an impact as James made a smart stop down low to his left, but a rasping shot from the midfielder provided an inadvertent assist for Malouda's second as the winger slammed the follow-up into the top corner.

Another fizzing shot from Lampard was somehow tipped over for a corner before Drogba netted his second with a crisp finish from substitute Patrick van Aanholt's raking diagonal pass.

Richard Hughes and Drogba both contrived to trade off inexplicable misses from close range at either end of the field, but the second half had already begun to peter out slowly with the hosts in damage-limitation mode.

Five goals proved to be the extent of the damage inflicted by Ancelotti's side, as Lampard stole in to round off a slick move in stoppage time to move the Blues to within one point of leaders United, with an identical goal difference.