A superb second-half display from Chelsea saw the Blues run out 4-0 winners against Stoke and inflict a first home Premier League defeat of the season on the Potters.
The first half lacked quality but a Jonathan Walters own goal right before the break gave the visitors the lead, and in the second half the Blues ran riot. The unlucky Walters added a second own goal before a Frank Lampard penalty and a Eden Hazard rocket sealed the points.
Stoke made one change to the side that started their last Premier League game against Manchester City as Matthew Etherington started on the left in place of Cameron Jerome. The visitors made four changes to the side that were beaten by Swansea in the Capital One Cup semi-final with Demba Ba, Petr Cech, Frank Lampard and Ryan Bertrand starting in place of Fernando Torres, Ross Turnbull, Gary Cahill and Oscar.
The opening half was short on skill and entertainment with both sides limited to half chances until right before the break.
Stoke had the game’s first chance as Kenwyne Jones found himself with room inside the Chelsea penalty area but he dragged his shot wide of Cech’s goal. And the visitors responded 10 minutes later with a nice passing move that led to Ba finding Lampard inside the penalty area but Begovic saved well with his feet from the midfielder’s low shot.
With the half seemingly drifting to an end without a goal Chelsea opened the scoring with what was the final attack, Hazard released Cesar Azpilicueta on the right-hand side, the Spaniard delivered a dangerous cross to the back post where Walters headed past his own goalkeeper in his attempt to clear the cross before Juan Mata could pounce.
Stoke began the second half full of life and after a Steven N’Zonzi shot tested Cech they thought they had a penalty just before the hour. Azpilicueta appeared to bring down Etherington inside the penalty area, Andre Marriner awarded the penalty only for assistant referee Sian Massey to overrule the decision as the winger had drifted into an offside position.
Four minutes later the Stoke players were cursing that decision as Walters again headed past his own goalkeeper. Lampard challenged the winger from a right-wing corner and the ball hit the Stoke man before dropping into the back of the net.
Stoke’s misery was added to just two minutes later as Robert Huth was adjudged to have brought down Mata inside the penalty area. The decision looked harsh but that made no difference to Lampard who smashed the ball past Begovic from 12 yards to become Chelsea’s second highest goal scorer with 194 goals.
Chelsea hammered the final nail in the Stoke coffin in the 73rd minute as Hazard fired an unstoppable shot into the top corner.
The Belgian received the ball inside the Stoke half from Mata, drifted away from Glenn Whelan and lashed an absolute rocket past Begovic.
Harry Redknapp won his personal duel with Andre Villas-Boas as QPR held free-scoring Tottenham to a goalless draw in the Premier League clash at Loftus Road.
It was an ugly spectacle but relegation-threatened Rangers will celebrate a point against the club that fired Redknapp last June and appointed Villas-Boas as his successor.
The build-up to today’s London derby saw Redknapp play down the existence of animosity with Villas-Boas and the rivals embraced after emerging from the tunnel for kick-off.
While it was not quite the complete revenge QPR’s manager may have privately sought, the draw meant his side have taken four points from their last two matches against top four opposition following their 1-0 victory over Chelsea on January 2.
Well organised and tenacious, for long spells they frustrated Tottenham who had won nine of their last 11 games before today and scored an average of three goals in each of their last four matches.
The reflexes of keeper Julio Cesar kept Rangers in the hunt, especially early on when Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor probed for the opener, but their safety-first approach meant Hugo Lloris was untroubled.
Lone striker Adel Taarabt cut a frustrated figure at times, frequently isolated by his team’s refusal to attack with numbers, but Rangers still had occasional opportunities on the break to snatch victory.
It was the first time Spurs have failed to score in an away game this season and wingers Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon were rarely seen, marked out of contention in a tactical triumph for Redknapp.
Villas-Boas was hoping Tottenham would be in a position to take advantage of any ground lost by their rivals in tomorrow’s matches at Old Trafford and the Emirates Stadium, but QPR proved uncompromising opposition.
Referee Lee Probert engaged in an early discussion with Cesar after Sandro had shot wide of the right post before the match burst into life in the fifth minute.
Defoe’s fierce attempt from the edge of the area was brilliantly pushed onto the left post by Cesar and a heartbeat later the Brazilian dived to deny Adebayor, who should have done better with the goal at his mercy.
The ensuing corner saw Cesar keep out Bale at the near post and moments later Lennon tumbled as he dashed into the box, but Probert was unconvinced.
Only a deflection from Michael Dawson prevented Shaun Wright-Phillips from hitting the target in the seventh minute after a terrific pass from Taarabt.
Dawson, who turned down a move to QPR in the summer, came to the rescue again with an inch-perfect tackle on Stephane Mbia on the edge of the area when he was the final defender in front of Hugo Lloris.
Sandro departed the field having gone down clutching his right knee as he reached for the ball so Scott Parker came on to anchor the midfield.