Victories, home and away, against Liverpool. Victories, home and away, against Manchester City. Six past Arsenal at Stamford Bridge and a draw at the Emirates. Chelsea's record against their equals this season is little short of stunning, with Sunday's win the highpoint.
Jose Mourinho did not send out the reserves, as threatened, but this was still a team selected with one eye on Wednesday's Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid. Gary Cahill and Willian on the bench, Oscar in the stands. Petr Cech and John Terry injured, Ramires suspended.
Half strength? Quite possibly. Yet Chelsea deserved this, no matter the predictable howls of outrage about negative play.
There is not only one way to win a football match, and no rules state a great team cannot be built from the back, just the same.
Chelsea have not conceded a goal away from home against a team in the top four this season. If Liverpool knew how to defend like them, they would have been handed the trophy two weeks ago.
For all Liverpool's possession, the outstanding performances came from men in blue shirts.
Tomas Kalas made his first Premier League appearance for Chelsea and shut Luis Suarez out of the game. Branislav Ivanovic by his side was a courageous, yet calming influence.
The full-backs, not least Ashley Cole, were superb. Nemanja Matic in central midfield equalled his display away at Manchester City; Frank Lampard played as if 10 years younger. And Demba Ba? He led the line, he scored the first goal and held off what appeared to be a permanent guard of three players. His work-rate was such that by the time he left the field after 84 minutes he could barely stand up.
How on earth did anyone believe Mourinho would give up the title without a fight, would come to Anfield and not wish to prove a point? He sent out players he knew would give everything, and some that could give everything, knowing they have no part to play against Atletico. Liverpool will not kick a ball again for eight days, yet this may have taken more from them than it did Chelsea.
To the ground: Demba Ba celebrates traditionally after putting Chelsea ahead away at Liverpool
Nicely put away: Ba calmly put Chelsea ahead as they tried to strange the life out of Liverpool
Racing clear: Ba was allowed an undisturbed run at goal after a dreadful mistake by Steven Gerrard
Anguish: Gerrard couldn't believe his error as Ba slipped the ball underneath goalkeeper Simon Mignolet
Cool as you like: The striker looked confident as he strode through on goal
We go again: Chelsea's players retreat to the halfway for the restart after the first goal
Praising the big man: Ba's Chelsea team-mates all rushed to congratulate the striker
Tough gig! Luis Suarez wasn't afforded much space by the away back four during a tricky first half
What have you done, skip? Suarez looks on aghast after Gerrard's costly mistake before half-time
Emotion: Gerrard scratches his head after watching Chelsea take the lead because of his slip
Gutted: Gerrard's attempts to make amends for his error got ever more desperate as the game wore on
Dream over? The Liverpool captain stares blankly ahead after what proved to a decisive strike
Tight at the top: Manchester City will win the title if they win all their remaining matches
The title is no longer in
their hands if Manchester City keep winning and that is a savage blow
after so much expectation. Chelsea will hope to capitalise on the nerves
of the teams ahead, too. After this, who knows what the next twist will
be? When Liverpool play again, at Crystal Palace on Bank Holiday
Monday, May 5, they could be third. Mayday, mayday.
Amidst all the drama came the ballad of Steven Gerrard. Poor Gerrard. No player has done more to drag his team into the title race, and none will hurt harder if this goes down as the day the title slipped from Liverpool's grasp. It was his mistake, his of all people, that gifted the opening goal to Chelsea in first half injury-time.
A typical exchange of Liverpool passes ended with Mamadou Sakho squaring a ball to Gerrard. He opened his body to send it out across field, and miscontrolled. In trying to recover, he slipped and fell. The ball ran to Ba who was suddenly away on goal with only Simon Mignolet to beat. His finish belied the theory that Chelsea are bereft of good strikers. His performance did the same.
Ba typified Chelsea's resilience here. He often had Gerrard in front of him, Sakho behind him and Martin Skrtel coming across to do some bullying on the side. Yet, throughout, Ba gave as good as he got. Meanwhile, at the opposite end, the Player of the Year, Suarez, was being frustrated by a 20-year-old from the Czech Republic, whose club experience this season amounts to two minutes.
Amidst all the drama came the ballad of Steven Gerrard. Poor Gerrard. No player has done more to drag his team into the title race, and none will hurt harder if this goes down as the day the title slipped from Liverpool's grasp. It was his mistake, his of all people, that gifted the opening goal to Chelsea in first half injury-time.
A typical exchange of Liverpool passes ended with Mamadou Sakho squaring a ball to Gerrard. He opened his body to send it out across field, and miscontrolled. In trying to recover, he slipped and fell. The ball ran to Ba who was suddenly away on goal with only Simon Mignolet to beat. His finish belied the theory that Chelsea are bereft of good strikers. His performance did the same.
Ba typified Chelsea's resilience here. He often had Gerrard in front of him, Sakho behind him and Martin Skrtel coming across to do some bullying on the side. Yet, throughout, Ba gave as good as he got. Meanwhile, at the opposite end, the Player of the Year, Suarez, was being frustrated by a 20-year-old from the Czech Republic, whose club experience this season amounts to two minutes.
Dejected: Gerrard stares at the floor after Martin Atkinson's blew the full-time whistle
Thanks for having us! Willian added a simple second in stoppage time to add gloss to the result
Staring into the distance: Gerrard with a back drop of jubilant Chelsea fans in the dying moments
Eyes on the prize: Ba and Sakho get physical in an attempt to win a high ball
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