Chelsea 4-0 Tottenham

Samuel Eto'o's first goal since the hat-trick against Man United in January set up a win that takes Chelsea seven points clear at the top of Premier League.

The Cameroon striker was gifted his 11 goal of the campaign after a howler from Jan Vertonghen and then won a penalty moments later which killed Spurs off.

Sub Demba Ba added gloss by plundering two more goals in the final minutes as Spurs capitulated.

But it was the first goal that changed the course of a the game. Vertonghen, under pressure from Andre Schurrle, panicked after stumbling and hit a blind backpass to the lurking marksman.

Eto'o, who only started because Fernando Torres pulled up in the warm-up, was not about to pass up such a chance and Michael Dawson could not close him down in time.

On target: Samuel Eto'o celebrates Chelsea's first goal

That goal came nine minutes into the second half and four minutes later, the points were as good as secured when Eto'o won a penalty and Younes Kaboul was red carded for giving it away.

Hazard, whose cross led to the penalty, duly dispatched the spot-kick for his 15th of the campaign.

It looked a soft award from ref Michael Oliver, but the Blues were not about to complain.

For them it was a day when they wanted to take advantage of their title rivals all being inactive and they made it count.

After that, Chelsea were in cruise control, and playing in a celebratory atmosphere, and they were never in danger of being pegged back. It was just a question of whether more goals would follow.

Oscar skied one effort after Willian had created an opening. Ba came on to to see if he could replicate the damage done by Eto'o.

And he did just that, stabbling in a third after 88 minutes when Sandro failed to deal with a low cross from Oscar, then profiting from a stray back header from Kyle Walker that totally exposed keeper Hugo Lloris.

In a typically frantic start to the derby, Spurs looked almost as likely to break the deadlock as the Blues early on in their search for a first win at the Bridge in the Premier League era – or 24 years to be precise.

Nabil Bentaleb burst through onto a header from Emmanuel Adebayor and rolled a shot just wide, while Sandro's left foot volley from just outside the area stung the palms of Petr Cech.

But at the same time, the Blues should have been in front after five minutes when Schurrle and Eto'o worked the ball forwards for Hazard, who side-stepped Lloris before firing wide as the angle became just a little too much for him.

It was a miss which hardly mattered in the end.

Line-up: Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Matic; Schurrle (Willian 66), Lampard (Oscar h/t), Hazard; Eto'o (Ba 76).

Subs (not used): Schwarzer, Oscar, Mikel, Salah, Kalas.

Attendance 41,598