Premiership: Chelsea sweep to victory

Dave Bassett was given a clear indication of the size of the task ahead of him as Chelsea swept to an convincing 2-0 victory over Leicester at Stamford Bridge.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink from the penalty spot and a quality strike from Eidur Gudjohnsen ended any hopes of a good start for Bassett.

Chelsea remain the only unbeaten team in the Premiership, though strangely this was their first home win of the season.

It took two weak efforts early on by Matthew Jones and Ade Akinbiyi to sting Chelsea into life, after which they proceeded to dominate the entire match.

After 18 minutes, a sublime piece of skill from Gudjohnsen earned Chelsea a penalty. The Icelandic striker controlled Zola's long pass with his chest, looped the ball over Gary Rowett and charged past the defender, who tugged him down.

Referee Jeff Winter pointed to the spot and Hasselbaink struck the spot-kick so powerfully that although Walker managed to get a good hand to the ball it ricocheted into the top of the net.

It was the Dutchman's eighth goal in seven Premiership appearances this season.

With Emmanuel Petit running midfield, Leicester were left chasing shadows.

Hasselbaink forced Walker into a sprawling save from 20 yards, and Zola, playing nominally on the right of midfield but ranging across the pitch, struck a half-volley that dipped over the cross-bar.

Gudjohnsen, displaying some brilliant control, was a real handful for Matt Elliott and Lee Marshall.

First an attempted backheel nearly paid dividends, then, with seven minutes of the opening half remaining his neat turn and shot was only thwarted by a classy reaction save from Walker.

A minute before the break, however, Gudjohnsen finally got his reward. Jones' pass left Wise in trouble, Zenden intercepted, sped away and backheeled to Zola, who fed Gudjohnsen on the edge of the area.

Some bewitching footwork created space for a shot and the Icelander fired low past Walker, who once more made a gallant but unsuccessful effort to save.

The second half was little more than a procession for Chelsea, who paraded their skills to the full without increasing their lead.

With 20 minutes to go, some trickery by substitute Mikael Forssell, playing a back-heeled one-two with Celestine Babayaro, set up the Nigerian but he pulled his shot just wide.

At least Bassett will have been pleased that Leicester did not give up, and late on Robbie Savage, unusually muted for much of the match, struck a deep cross from the right that found Akinbiyi unmarked.

The striker headed down, but too far down, and Carlo Cudicini could afford to watch as the ball bounced over the bar.