Wolverhampton, Sept 21: Big-spending Chelsea beat Wolves 5-0 in the premier league to go top of the table. Chelsea cruised to an effortless 5-0 win over bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Saturday (September 20). Midfielder Frank Lampard and Dutch striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink put them 2-0 up at the break before Ireland playmaker Damien Duff tapped in his first goal for Chelsea and Argentine substitute forward Hernan Crespo scored his first two for the club. The totally one-sided game left Chelsea on 13 points, ahead of Arsenal on goal difference and a point clear of champions Manchester United -- with their two pursuers meeting in Sunday's showcase game at Old Trafford.

Title contenders since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the club in July and spent 111 million pounds ($180.5 million) re-building the team, Chelsea could easily have been 4-0 or 5-0 up at halftime between missed chances and a disallowed goal.


English league soccer standings after matches played on Saturday: Premier league P W D L F A Pts 1. Chelsea 5 4 1 0 15 6 13 2. Arsenal 5 4 1 0 11 3 13 3. Manchester United 5 4 0 1 9 2 12 4. Southampton 6 3 3 0 8 3 12 5. Manchester City 6 3 2 1 14 8 11 6. Liverpool 6 3 2 1 9 4 11 7. Birmingham City 5 3 2 0 6 2 11 8. Portsmouth 6 2 3 1 9 5 9 9. Blackburn Rovers 6 2 2 2 14 12 8 10. Fulham 5 2 2 1 11 9 8 11. Aston Villa 6 2 1 3 7 10 7 12. Bolton Wanderers 6 1 3 2 4 10 6 13. Leicester City 6 1 2 3 9 9 5 14. Everton 5 1 2 2 8 10 5 15. Charlton Athletic 6 1 2 3 7 9 5 16. Leeds United 6 1 2 3 6 12 5 17. Tottenham Hotspur 6 1 1 4 5 12 4 18. Newcastle United 5 0 3 2 5 7 3 19. Middlesbrough 5 0 1 4 4 12 1 20. Wolverhampton Wanderers 6 0 1 5 1 17 1


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