Chelsea stormed to an eight-point lead at the top of Barclays Premier League with a clinical 4-0 demolition of woeful Wolves at Stamford Bridge.

First-half goals from Florent Malouda and a double from Michael Essien put the Blues in control and Joe Cole completed the scoring after the break to keep Wolves entrenched in the bottom three.

It gave the home side a club record of 12 straight wins in all competitions and a record-equalling 10th consecutive clean sheet on home soil.

Malouda put Chelsea ahead after five minutes when he collected a poor Wolves clearance inside the centre-circle and ran on unchallenged to unleash a 20-yard shot.

Another sweet Chelsea move in the 11th minute almost brought them a second goal but Wayne Hennessey tipped Salomon Kalou's 20-yard angled drive around the post, but the relief for Wolves was shortlived as from Malouda's resultant flag-kick, Essien rose unmarked to head home from six yards.

Chelsea made it three in the 22nd minute when John Mikel Obi fed Essien on the edge of the penalty area and he fired a shot under Hennessey.

Wolves almost conjured a goal out of nothing when a header from Sylvan Ebanks-Blake was superbly kept out by Petr Cech.

Chelsea made it four in the 56th minute and it was a welcome strike for fit again Joe Cole.

The England midfielder - out for 10 months since January - side-footed the ball beyond Hennessey after Anelka's cross had been turned into his path by Kalou.

Moments later Anelka made way for substitute Gael Kakuta to make his first-team debut and he almost marked the occasion with a 25-yard curler that flew just wide.