Hammers trounced in Blues title pursuit

Two goals from England winger Shaun Wright-Phillips and additional strikes from Salomon Kalou and Didier Drogba condemned West Ham, who had equalised through Carlos Tevez, to their ninth home defeat of the season and moved Chelsea to within three points of leaders Manchester United once again.

West Ham are now five points adrift of safety with four games left to play and relegation is a virtual certainty unless they can somehow contrive the necessary results against Everton, Wigan, Bolton and Manchester United in their remaining fixtures.

The Hammers had a narrow escape in the 11th minute when Robert Green twice denied the champions with saves from Kalou and Drogba as Chelsea asserted their authority in the opening stages.

On the half-hour Chelsea went in front thanks to a stunning goal from Wright-Phillips. The impish winger turned and jinked his way past the West Ham defence before sending a left-foot shot into the bottom corner beyond the despairing frame of Green.

West Ham were level just four minutes later when Tevez beat Petr Cech with a sensational 25-yard drive after cutting in from the left flank. It was the first goal Chelsea had conceded in the Premiership for 13 hours and 49 minutes.

But they were not on level terms for long, as Wright-Phillips restored Chelsea's lead with his second goal of the game within a minute of the restart. Wayne Bridge was allowed to advance down the left flank and when he delivered his cross, Wright-Phillips volleyed the ball beyond Green.

Even then West Ham could have equalised within minutes but James Collins sent a header straight at Cech when he rose unmarked to meet a cross from Jonathan Spector.

Chelsea soon had a third after the interval when Frank Lampard sent a free-kick into the penalty area and when Drogba's shot was saved on the line by Green, Kalou was the first to react to put Chelsea 3-1 in front in the 51st minute.

West Ham were now leaving cavernous gaps at the back and Chelsea were keen to exploit the space. So much so that it resulted in their fourth, and Drogba's 31st of the campaign, in the 62nd minute when he slipped the ball through the legs of the stricken Green to leave West Ham requiring a minor miracle to escape the drop.