Fernando Torres handed Rafael Benitez a first Barclays Premier League victory as Chelsea manager as he ended his goalscoring drought in style at Sunderland.
The Spanish forward capped a powerful start for the Londoners by shooting them into an 11th-minute lead – scoring his first league goal since October 6 – and he made it two in first-half stoppage time by converting a penalty awarded for Sebastian Larsson's trip on Ramires.
Only the woodwork prevented him from completing a hat-trick inside 49 minutes, but Juan Mata rifled in the loose ball to end the game as a contest.
Sunderland responded and England international Adam Johnson embarrassed keeper Petr Cech with a 66th-minute shot he really should have repelled, while Craig Gardner hit the bar at the death, but the home side were left to contemplate a run which now extends to just two Premier League victories in 23 attempts. Manager Martin O'Neill must now attempt to take the positives from another difficult afternoon.
Chelsea, meanwhile, will turn their attention to Japan and the Fifa Club World Cup.
The visitors could have had the game won inside the opening 11 minutes. Had referee Mark Halsey seen what television replays later revealed, he might have endeared himself even less to locals who had been irked by his display.
There were just two minutes on the clock when Eden Hazard ran on to Mata's stunning pass but just as he prepared to shoot, he had his arm tugged by the covering Larsson. It was enough to throw the striker off balance and keeper Simon Mignolet took advantage to smother the ball, with Halsey allowing play to continue and sparing Larsson an inevitable red card, much to the annoyance of the Belgian.
Torres then twice went close to opening the scoring but, having ridden their luck during the early stages, Sunderland finally succumbed after a mistake by Carlos Cuellar allowed Chelsea to break at pace, culminating in the former Liverpool striker turning the ball into the net.
Sunderland responded and forced the visitors on to the back foot at times but disaster struck deep into first-half injury time when Larsson needlessly went to ground to bring down Ramires, allowing Torres to make it 2-0 from the spot.
Any hopes of a fightback were dashed within four minutes of the restart when the Spaniard's shot hit the bar, with compatriot Mata putting away the rebound.
Johnson gave Sunderland hope with a rasping 66th-minute strike past Cech, who was much more accomplished in dealing with the same player's goal-bound free-kick 10 minutes later and an injury-time effort from Connor Wickham, who was in the side in place of the injured Steven Fletcher.
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