West Ham United 1 Chelsea 3: Lampard revels in a ruthless defeat of Hammers

The long walk to the tunnel at full-time will have been one of Frank Lampard's favourite moments at Upton Park and he made sure he treated every side of the old ground to a fulsome, ironic round of applause.

In the Bobby Moore stand they responded with burning vitriol and all the old hatred but as he reached the exit, there was a polite response in kind from the handful of West Ham supporters who had waited.

They, at least, had realised that all resistance was futile. The goalscoring return of the prodigal son to Upton Park marked the day that Chelsea went 14 points clear at the top of the Premiership, with a disposal of West Ham so ruthlessly executed that this time there were no complaints from Jose Mourinho.

The Chelsea manager saved his condemnation instead for the forces he believes are conspiring against a team who are proving impossible to stop.

His target this time was Steven Gerrard who may have been 200 miles away yesterday but was dragged into the dispute over the treatment of Michael Essien who was carried off after 12 minutes following a foul by Nigel Reo-Coker.

The Ghanaian midfielder still does not know the extent of the injury to his leg and it prompted a diatribe by Mourinho on how English football would have passed judgement had the offending boot been on his player's foot.

"Essien is injured and he cannot walk so we will have to wait for the scans," Mourinho said. "I can imagine what would happen if it was the opposite situation. We are seeing how people treat Chelsea.

"I can imagine what a Chelsea player would get if he did what Steven Gerrard did against Newcastle [when he shoved Alan Shearer in the back].

"The replays of Essien [fouling Dietmar Hamann] were on television for 15 days - I think I only saw [the footage of] Gerrard twice. Essien is suspended for the Champions' League against Barcelona and when he tackles it is immediately a yellow card."

The mood was not all black for Mourinho however, who took great pleasure in the effect his introduction of Hernan Crespo had in the 61st minute when the Argentine striker rattled home Chelsea's second goal within 30 seconds of coming on.

Liverpool have two games in hand, and Manchester United play Arsenal today but Mourinho is so far ahead he is still not certain he will watch the game. "I have to ask my wife," he said. "Maybe no permission."

Even Matilde Mourinho will have recognised the quality of Arjen Robben's performance who was Chelsea's best player in a first half which saw the Dutch winger tear into the right flank of West Ham's defence.

Mourinho pointed out that three of Alan Pardew's defenders had played every minute of the three Christmas games while the rests he had been able to give his key squad players showed in the match's early stages.

Yossi Benayoun's mistake presented the ball to Lampard in the area on 25 minutes and he volleyed past Roy Carroll for a goal that did nothing to improve the mood of the West Ham fans who had greeted him with the chant "you're just a fat Paul Ince".

He clashed with Carl Fletcher in the second half and was booked after West Ham equalised but once Chelsea's victory was assured Lampard even signalled the score with his fingers at the invitation of the away fans.

"Very special," was how Lampard described his first goal against West Ham in his fourth match back at Upton Park. "I was really pleased," he said. "I would like to come back here and get some respect but not many here give me that so I just carry on working for Chelsea."

Marlon Harewood scored within 22 seconds of the start of the second half after Benayoun and Reo-Coker had fashioned an opening but, even with Hayden Mullins in outstanding form, West Ham could not hold on. Played in by Robben on the hour, Crespo went round Carroll and slipped the ball home.

The Argentine played only 22 minutes before limping off to be replaced by Shaun Wright-Phillips. Eidur Gudjohnsen, described by Mourinho as "the blond Maradona", struck the pass for the third which found Didier Drogba's run down the right and he hit a low shot past Carroll.

Mourinho will certainly need cover for Essien now and the Portuguese midfielder Maniche said yesterday that he is poised to join Chelsea.

By the time he arrives, Lampard and his team-mates will have gone a long way to deciding the title.

West Ham United (4-1-4-1): Carroll; Dailly, Collins, Ferdinand, Konchesky; Mullins (Zamora, 71); Benayoun, Fletcher, Reo-Coker, Etherington (Bellion, 78); Harewood. Substitutes not used: Hislop (gk), Clarke, Aliadière.

Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Geremi, Carvalho, Terry, Del Horno; Makelele; Robben, Essien (Gudjohnsen, 12), Lampard, Duff (Crespo, 60 (Wright-Phillips, 82)); Drogba. Substitutes not used: Cudicini (gk), Johnson.

Referee: H Webb (South Yorkshire).