London - Chelsea strolled back to the top of English Premier League football on Saturday with a 3-0 win at bottom side West Bromwich Albion on Saturday after title challengers Liverpool had earlier displaced them with a 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers. Only goal difference separates the two sides at the top of the table, with both teams sitting on 32 points, 5 clear of champions Manchester United, who thrashed Stoke City 5-0. That win saw United overtake Arsenal, who were humbled 2-0 at home by Aston Villa.
At the Hawthorns, Chelsea put their shock midweek Carling Cup defeat to Burnley firmly behind them with an emphatic performance that saw them score three goals before half-time.
Two goals from Nicolas Anelka, bringing his season's tally to 13 in all competitions, followed Jose Bosingwa's opening thunderbolt against a hapless West Brom side.
The Portuguese right-back unleashed a powerful strike from just outside the penalty area after 35 minutes when home keeper Scott Carson had been expecting a cross.
Only minutes later, Chelsea doubled their lead when Anelka calmly chipped Carson having been played in behind the West Brom defence.
And the Frenchman grabbed his second to settle the match on the stroke of half-time as he smashed the ball in from 8 yards out after good work by Salamon Kalou.
The league leaders had several chances in the second half to add to their lead, but will nevertheless be content with their seventh straight away win in this Premier League campaign.
Earlier, Liverpool moved ahead of the Blues - albeit briefly - as Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard scored the goals to send them on their way to a 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers.
Liverpool dominated the early stages at the Reebok Stadium and Kuyt had already hit the bar before he headed them in front on 28 minutes with a superb effort from Fabio Aurelio's cross.
Robbie Keane somehow contrived to miss from two yards and Bolton almost made them pay on half-time when a Gary Cahill headed goal was ruled out for a foul.
Bolton came out firing on all cylinders after half-time and put the Liverpool defence under a lot of pressure, while at the other end, Gerrard missed from a yard out after good work by substitute Fernando Torres.
Torres then produced a brilliant cross with the outside of his foot and Gerrard headed the ball into the corner to relieve the pressure, 17 minutes from time.
Rafael Benitez's side extended their best ever start to a Premier League campaign to move on to 32 points from 13 games, and the manager was delighted with the result.
"We worked really hard and played really, really well in the first half," Benitez said. "We were under pressure in the second because they were pushing and being more physical. But the question was to finish the game with a second goal and we did.
"It could have been more but a 2-0 win away to Bolton, who have been doing well in the last two games, is good. We were not very happy after losing (to Tottenham Hotspur) in the Carling Cup but the team did well and we are really pleased to be top."
United cruised to a 5-0 win over Stoke, thanks to two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and one each by Michael Carrick, Dimitar Berbatov and a cracking strike by 17-year-old substitute Danny Welbeck.
Arsenal, though, slipped to fourth, one point behind United, after they were humbled 2-0 at home by Villa, further denting their title hopes.
The visitors had earlier seen a penalty saved by Manuel Almunia, but went ahead through a Gael Clichy own goal (70) and sealed the points for Villa thanks to Gabriel Agbonlahor's late second.
Fulham ended Harry Redknapp's unbeaten record since taking over at Tottenham Hotspur with a 2-1 win over their London rivals, while Sunderland moved out of the bottom three by winning 2-1 at Blackburn Rovers.
Titus Bramble scored a late goal to give Wigan Athletic, who played the last 40 minutes with 10 men after Emerson Boyce was sent off, a 2-2 draw at Newcastle United, while the other game of the day, between West Ham United and Portsmouth, finished 0-0.
