Chelsea overcame a determined performance by Sunderland to eventually emerge 2-0 winners in their Premier League clash on Saturday.

With Didier Drogba out for a month due to surgery, Andriy Shevchenko was handed only his fifth start of the season and the Ukrainian justified the selection by giving Chelsea the lead in the 23rd minute. Frank Lampard put the result beyond doubt 15 minutes before full time by doubling the lead through the penalty spot.

The hosts created most of the few chances in the match and could have gone into the lead as early as in the 5th minute when Salomon Kalou saw his shot smash against the cross bar. Chelsea dominated the possession in the first half but were unable to create many chances though they took the lead in the 23rd minute when Kalou crossed the ball for an unmarked Shevchenko to head home from close range.

The result was put beyond Sunderland's reach in the 75th minute when Alex was fouled inside the penalty area by Higginbotham and Lampard made no mistake to convert from the penalty spot to double the lead. With Sunderland unable to create any clear chances, Chelsea collected all three points to maintain pressure on Arsenal at the top of the league table.