Chelsea may have lost their bigger games of late but they continue to overwhelm mediocre opposition. Nicolas Anelka scored twice in a comfortable 2-0 victory over Blackburn at a rain-sodden Ewood Park to make it five goals in two Premier League matches for him and return Chelsea to the top of the table.

It was Blackburn's third home defeat of the season, although the fact that they have come up against Arsenal, Manchester United and now Chelsea means that it will not concern Paul Ince unduly.

Chelsea were dominant right from the start, testing Paul Robinson from a variety of angles and distances, yet when their first goal came in the 40th minute it was a complete fluke: Alex's long-range shot was going wide until it hit Anelka, and the ball trickled over the line with Robinson hopelessly wrong-footed.

Blackburn were better in the second half, and Jason Roberts had a gilt-edged chance for an equaliser when Morten Gamst Pedersen lofted a pass to the edge of the box. Roberts turned away from John Terry to give himself a clear sight of goal but Petr Cech's looming presence blocked out the shot.

With less than half an hour remaining, and concerned no doubt by the apparent change in the direction of the game, Scolari stiffened the side by taking off Salomon Kalou and sending on Juliano Belletti.

It certainly had the desired effect as Anelka scored his second to put the game beyond Blackburn's reach.

Florent Malouda and Frank Lampard combined on the edge of the box; Lampard then stabbed a short pass to put Anelka in the clear and he finished with aplomb, lifting the ball over Robinson to make it 2-0. Only an excellent late save from Robinson denied Anelka another hat-trick to go with last week's against Sunderland, but nobody could deny that Chelsea deserved to collect three more points.