Chelsea have leapfrogged Tottenham Hostpur to regain third place in the Premier League by beating Wigan Athletic 4-1 at Stamford Bridge this afternoon.
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Ramires gave the Blues a half-time lead before Eden Hazard doubled their advantage with a strike 10 minutes into the second period.
The visitors replied instantly through Shaun Maloney, but Frank Lampard and Marko Marin sealed the points for the European Champions with a late double.
Maloney and Franco di Santo called Petr Cech into action early on as the Latics started brightly.
Chelsea keeper Cech saved with his feet from former Blue Di Santo's 10-yard drive and then smartly denied Maloney, whose bending effort looked to be sneaking inside the far post.
Fernando Torres was unfortunate not to open the scoring when his flicked header went inches wide, while Ali Al-Habsi palmed another nodded effort from the Spaniard over the crossbar.
The Chelsea striker was involved again when Ramires broke the deadlock, directing a clever first-time pass into the path of the Brazilian, who stroked the ball into the top corner.
Recalled full-back Cesar Azpilicueta was impressive going forward and he squared for Hazard, who was returning after serving a three-match ban for kicking a Swansea City ball boy, to slot home on 55 minutes.
Wigan remained stubborn, though, and halved the deficit almost immediately as Maloney rounded Cech before finishing from a tight angle.
Latics boss Roberto Martinez threw on Arouna Kone in an attempt to snatch an equaliser, but it was Chelsea who added to the scores.
Following fine work from Hazard, Lampard buried the ball into the bottom corner for his 196th Chelsea goal - a strike which moves him to within six goals of Bobby Tambling's club record.
There was also time for Marin to grab his first Blues goal, as he poked in from close range after Azpilicueta's shot was parried by Al-Habsi.
Joe Fish
