Autumn Champions March On Relentlessly

West Bromwich Albion were the latest lambs to the slaughter, who were sacrificed on the Stamford Bridge altar, as Chelsea continue to press home their claims for domestic supremacy. On a weekend when Arse-nil lost at home, Liverpoo were trounced at the Palace, and Manchester Wannabes staggered past Swansea, there still appears no team capable of coming close to mounting a challenge. Southampton will be considered worthy challengers if they can emerge from their Villa Park and Manchester Mercenaries' assignments with at least four points. Somehow I doubt it.

Meanwhile back in west London, even Courtois and his defence were re-acquainted with the concept of a clean sheet. Mind you, against a ten-man Baggies outfit, anything less than a shutout would have been intolerable. Of course, Chelsea might have been reasonably expected to indulge themselves in an avalanche of goals after the sending-off, but in truth, all Blues followers would gladly have settled for a two-nil, if it had been offered pre-match.

It was good to see the sometimes wasteful Eden Hazard score from open play, while Diego Costa helped himself to an astonishing eleventh goal from ten Premier League starts. Even Cesc Fabregas described the first-half sexy football demonstration as the most delightful footballing experience of his career. Of course, mischievous Sunderland lurk on the near horizon. They are just the type of party-poopers who just might upset the odds.

After all, there was a time a couple of decades ago when Chelsea could be almost relied upon to take the league leaders down a peg or two. Maybe Sunderland can repeat their heroics of last season and give us a dose of our old medicine. Surely this Chelsea team is way too good to succumb to Sunderland again. Time will tell.

CHELSEA 2 West Bromwich Albion 0; half time: 2-0. Saturday 22nd November 2014.

CHELSEA goal scorers: Costa; Hazard

CHELSEA team: Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Matic, Fabregas, Hazard, Oscar, Willian, Costa. Used substitutes: Remy, Drogba, Ramires.

CHELSEA LEADING SCORERS:

Costa - 11 goals

Hazard - 6 goals

Oscar - 4 goals

Drogba and Matic - 3 goals

Fabregas, Ivanovic, Remy, and Schurrle - 2 goals