Premier League - Chelsea go seven points clear with Spurs rout

Chelsea's Samuel Eto'o celebrates v Tottenham (Reuters)

Chelsea moved seven points clear at the top of the Premier League with a second half demolition of Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea were jolted by the loss of Fernando Torres to injury in the warm-up, but his replacement Samuel Eto’o almost scored inside 20 seconds after a mistake by Michael Dawson – only to be wrongly flagged offside.

Chelsea were kept at bay by a spirited Spurs for almost an hour, but the Blues were given a huge helping hand for their opener by Jan Vertonghen, whose slip and subsequent backpass was seized upon by Eto’o, who finished well beyond Hugo Lloris.

The game’s big turning point came two minutes later, however, when Younes Kaboul conceded a soft penalty and was harshly red carded after an innocuous challenge on Eto’o.

Eden Hazard despatched the resulting spot-kick, sending Lloris the wrong way. Demab Ba came off the bench and added two more: the first a close range finish after Sandro failed to deal with Oscar’s cross and then rounding off the win a minute later with a simple finish after a careless header by Kyle Walker towards his own goal.

The result puts Chelsea in pole position in the Premier League, with Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City all with significant work to do to make up ground.