Chelsea 4-1 West Ham

Chelsea went back to the top of the Barclays Premier League with a comfortable 4-1 win over West Ham at Stamford Bridge.

Brazilian defender Alex headed Chelsea in front in the 15th minute but Scott Parker levelled with a stunning volley on the half-hour.

Didier Drogba rose unmarked to restore Chelsea's lead in the 55th minute and Florent Malouda added a third 14 minutes from time. Drogba then added his second of the game in the 89th minute to put Carlo Ancelotti's side one point clear of Manchester United at the summit.

Chelsea left-back Paulo Ferreira retained his place against West Ham in the Barclays Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.

Fit again Yury Zhirkov was on the substitute's bench while Germany captain Michael Ballack returned to the midfield following suspension.

Goalkeeper Ross Turnbull made his Chelsea league debut and Ivory Coast striker Salomon Kalou dropped to the bench to allow Florent Malouda to move forward into the front three.

West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola shuffled his pack to incorporate a totally changed attack.

Alessandro Diamanti, Guillermo Franco and Carlton Cole were left on the bench as Zola preferred Mido, Araujo Ilan and Kieron Dyer.

Chelsea were on top in the early exchanges with Didier Drogba, the African Footballer of the Year, just wide with a deflected 20-yard volley.

In the 10th minute Drogba got free of the West Ham defence thanks to a superbly lofted pass from John Obi Mikel but he could only shoot into the side netting.

West Ham should have been ahead in the 13th minute but Araujo Ilan was guilty of a contender for miss of the season.

Mido's low cross from the byline found Ilan unmarked just eight yards out but the West Ham striker blazed his effort over the crossbar.

The miss proved costly for West Ham as Chelsea went ahead two minutes later through Brazilian defender Alex.

The Hammers failed to clear a corner from Florent Malouda and when the ball was returned to the France winger, his cross was headed home by the unmarked Alex.

It was the defender's first goal of the season but it could have been worse for the Hammers seconds later.

Another cross from Malouda caused panic in the West Ham defence and a deflection off Matthew Upson looked to be heading for his own net until goalkeeper Robert Green just managed to palm it away to safety.

In the 27th minute, Chelsea carved West Ham open again and Frank Lampard's curling cross found Drogba at the far post only for the Ivorian to miss the target.

But West Ham were level in the 29th minute when former Chelsea midfielder Scott Parker sent a 25-yard volley over the top of rookie keeper Ross Turnbull and into the top corner.

Turnbull, making his league debut for the Blues, could do nothing about Parker's effort but once again Chelsea were guilty of failing to defend a throw-in.

The goal stunned Chelsea and their response was predictable and rapid.

In the 35th minute, Green had to dive at full-stretch to keep out a 20-yard low drive from Lampard.

Two minutes later, Nicolas Anelka tried his luck from 20 yards but the ball was comfortably collected by Green.

Malouda was a constant threat to West Ham and five minutes before the break he sent over another dangerous cross but Paulo Ferreira could only direct his header into the arms of Green.

Chelsea almost restored their advantage when a 53rd-minute cross from Malouda just eluded Michael Ballack at the far post.

And the home side were ahead again just two minutes later with a goal which owed much to captain John Terry.

Terry surged forward to the edge of the West Ham penalty area and allowed Drogba to lay the ball off to Malouda on the left wing.

The France winger delivered another pinpoint cross into the six-yard box and this time Drogba headed home from point-blank range for his 26th goal of the season, his 20th in the league.

The Chelsea fans began chanting "There's only one England captain" as England coach Fabio Capello watched on from the West stand.

Moments later Chelsea were denied a third by a great save from Green, who dived to his right to tip away a header from Alex.

In the 65th minute Joe Cole was given a chance to shine before Capello when he replaced Anelka.

It was followed moments later by a double substitution for the Hammers, Junior Stanislas replacing Kieron Dyer and Mido making way for Carlton Cole.