A brace apiece for Frank Lampard and Nicolas Anelka saw Chelsea thump Sunderland 7-2 at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues were ruthless throughout and had scored four times without reply by half-time with goals from Anelka, Florent Malouda, Ashley Cole and Lampard.

Depsite two changes by boss Carlos Ancelotti at the break, Chelsea failed to take their foot off the gas and were five up with seven minutes of the restart through a Michael Ballack header.

Former Chelsea player Boudewijn Zenden restored a little pride for the Black Cats when he steered in on 56 minutes but less than 10 minutes later the home side restored their five-goal cushion through Anelka's second.

The Frenchman turned provider for the seventh as he picked out Lampard who headed in to complete his double in injury-time before Darren Bent grabbed another consolation in an extraordinary game at the Bridge.

The win means Chelsea maintain their one-point lead at the top of the table with a game in hand over title rivals Manchester United.

Domination

Chelsea dominated from the start and Joe Cole could have put them in front in the first minute.

However, the England international failed to beat goalkeeper Marton Fulop after Malouda's header had put him clear of the Sunderland defence.

Ashley Cole then headed wide from point-blank range in the fourth minute when Joe Cole's cross found him at the far post.

But the returning Anelka put Ancelotti's side ahead in the eighth minute.

The France striker pounced on a clever through-ball from Ballack, rounded Fulop and placed the ball into the net.

Sunderland's first real attempt on goal arrived in the 13th minute but Bent's shot from the edge of the penalty area was easily saved by Petr Cech in the Chelsea goal.

Malouda added a second for Chelsea in the 17th minute when he collected the ball just inside the Sunderland half, shrugged off two challenges and sent an angled right-foot drive into the bottom corner of the net from 18 yards.

Sunderland had not won in the league since beating Arsenal in November and they were not in the same class as the Blues.

The gulf was underlined in the 22nd minute when the league leaders went 3-0 in front with another simple move.

John Terry's lofted ball from the back found Ashley Cole sprinting into the penalty area and the England left-back dummied Lorik Cana before dinking the ball over Fulop.

In the 32nd minute, Anelka got clear of the Sunderland defence yet again but this time Fulop's knees prevented him from scoring.

But it mattered little as Chelsea made it 4-0 two minutes later. Anelka fed Ashley Cole on the left wing and his cross was volleyed home from six yards by Lampard.

Chelsea were now playing some vintage stuff and moments later Ashley Cole was only denied a second by Fulop's outstretched hands.

Ballack was inches away from a fifth in the 36th minute when his curling shot fell just the wrong side of the left-hand upright.

Joe Cole forced Fulop into a diving save in the 43rd minute with a shot from the edge of the penalty area before Chelsea were cheered off the field at the interval.

Changes

At half-time captain Terry was replaced by Alex while Yuri Zhirkov came on in place of Ashley Cole, who collected a knock scoring his goal.

But Chelsea still dominated and in the 50th minute, Fulop had to tip a shot from Anelka onto the crossbar and post to prevent the home side scoring a fifth.

But the goal came in the 52nd minute and it was pure simplicity for Chelsea.

A cross from Joe Cole on the right flank was headed home from six yards by the unmarked Ballack.

Sunderland hit back in the 56th minute when substitute Zenden fired home from the edge of the penalty area.

But Chelsea's sixth duly arrived in the 64th minute when Zhirkov's cross was punched straight to Anelka by Fulop and the Chelsea striker slotted into an empty net from the edge of the area.

In the 75th minute, Anelka was denied a hat-trick when his shot from six yards was somehow kept out by Fulop.

Nine minutes later, Joe Cole hit the post with a header after Juliano Belletti had knocked an Alex free-kick into his path.

But Chelsea made it 7-1 in the 89th minute when Lampard headed home a cross from Anelka. Moments later Bent scored from close range for Sunderland before Chris Foy brought proceedings to a close.

Chelsea	Team Statistics	Sunderland
7	Goals	2
4	1st Half Goals	0
11	Shots on Target	3
12	Shots off Target	3
6	Blocked Shots	0
15	Corners	1
4	Fouls	10
1	Offsides	1
0	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
87.3	Passing Success	70.1
15	Tackles	23
80	Tackles Success	56.5
70.7	Possession	29.3
54.3	Territorial Advantage	45.7

Teams

Chelsea  Cech, Ivanovic, Carvalho, Terry (Alex 46), A. Cole (Zhirkov 46), Ballack, Belletti, Lampard, J. Cole, Malouda, Anelka
Subs Not Used  Hilario, Ferreira, Matic, Borini, Sturridge
Booked 
Goals  Anelka 8, 65, Malouda 17, A. Cole 22, Lampard 34, 90, Ballack 52

Sunderland  Fulop, Bardsley, Cana, Da Silva, McCartney, Malbranque (Zenden 46), Henderson, Meyler, Murphy (Campbell 72), Jones, Bent
Subs Not Used Carson, Healey, Liddle, Noble
Booked Bardsley
Goals Zenden 56, Bent 90

Attendance 41,776

Referee C. Foy