Chelsea cruised to their third Premier League win in a row as they beat Sunderland 2-1 at the Stadium of Light thanks to goals from John Terry and Daniel Sturridge.
Both teams were without their record signings, with Asamoah Gyan omitted from the Black Cats' side in view of his imminent departure for United Arab Emirates team Al-Ain, while Chelsea's Fernando Torres was left on the bench by Andre Villas-Boas.
Despite their problems this campaign it was the home side who came close to opening the scoring when new signing Nicklas Bendtner headed Seb Larsson's free-kick just wide of the returning Petr Cech's post after the Dane had peeled off his marker in the 18-yard box.
However, Chelsea responded straight away and took the lead in the 18th minute through Terry when he volleyed home from a tight angle after Sunderland had failed to clear their lines from a Blues free-kick when Juan Mata hit the post.
Villas-Boas' side began to get a firm grip on the game and had opportunities to double their lead through Nicolas Anelka and Ramires who saw efforts flash just over Simon Mignolet's bar.
It took a great save from Mignolet to stop a second goal for Chelsea as the Belgian international blocked an Anelka shot brilliantly to keep his team in the game.
Wes Brown was having a cracking game in the heart of the Sunderland defence as he denied Anelka and Sturridge on two occasions as they bore down on goal.
The hard work by the former Manchester United defender nearly paid dividends for the Black Cats as Stephane Sessegnon came close just before half-time as he forced Cech into a save from his vicious half-volley.
After the break, Chelsea resumed their stranglehold on the game and got a deserved second goal through Sturridge, who raced clear of the Sunderland defence and cheekily back-heeled the ball past Mignolet into the net despite the best efforts of Brown to keep it out.
The Blues almost grabbed a third as a failed clearance fell to substitute Florent Malouda but he was denied by Mignolet.
Sunderland tried to make it a grandstand finish as they finally found a way through the Chelsea defence in the 90th minute as Dong-Won tapped in from close range after latching onto Larsson's cross.
However they couldn't complete the comeback and slumped to their second home defeat of the season as Chelsea ran out deserved winners.