In a week where his personal life dominated the tabloid headlines, John Terry scored the winner against Burnley to send the Blues five points clear at the top of the table. The 2-1 win also saw goals from Nicolas Anelka and Steven Fletcher.
The Christmas tree formation was again on show with Ashley Cole, Yuri Zhirkov and Florent Malouda all present in the same starting side. Alex was also preferred to Ricardo Carvalho in defence.
Chelsea led just before the half hour, couresty of Anelka. A classy break saw Joe Cole pick out Malouda with a diagonal ball, the French winger knocking the ball into the box for Anelka to supply the clinical finish.
However, just four minutes into the second half, Burnley fashioned an equaliser. A long ball was expertly brought down by Fletcher and the forward kept a cool head to flick the ball past Alex and then fire into the back of the net past Petr Cech.
Moments later Chelsea thought they were in front, but Joe Cole’s close range header was ruled out for offside. Then, Lampard forced a decent low save from Brian Jensen with a powerful free kick.
But with eight minutes remaining, John Terry stepped up to score the decisive goal. He rose high and unmarked to meet Lampard’s corner with a powerful header that gave Jensen no chance.
Chris Eagles fired wide late on but Cech seemed to have it covered. A professional performance in chilly Lancashire from Chelsea and one that opens up a decent buffer at the league’s summit.