Leicester City 0 Chelsea 4: Short of learning that Arsenal and Manchester United had been deducted points, it is hard to imagine how Chelsea could have arrived home happier last night.

Here was a big win to restore their confidence, a first goal in 14 matches for Adrian Mutu and an end to Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's Premiership drought. Throw in United's goalless draw later against Newcastle and life must have felt rosier than for a while.

Anyone who imagines from this scoreline that Chelsea sparkled from start to finish would be mistaken. But substance was always going to be more important than style to Claudio Ranieri after a difficult month, and his players found a sound balance between the two to achieve a much-needed victory. "Chelsea are back," chanted their fans.

They certainly will be if the players perform with the quality that marked their opening quarter of an hour, or finish with the ruthlessness which brought them two goals in the final three minutes. Between times Chelsea's display was a more mixed bag, but the outcome was never seriously in doubt.

Two goals ahead after a first half which they controlled, Ranieri's players rarely found much fluency or creativity after the interval. Yet they repelled Leicester's best efforts during that period, with John Terry excellent and Carlo Cudicini producing one fine save, and then ended with a bang.

The central figure of the opening half had been Hasselbaink. His two strikes, one deliciously taken and the second a deflected free-kick, were his first in the league since October. He ought to have had a hat-trick but wasted three chances.

"I was up for it and I think everybody was up for it because we had a point to prove," said Hasselbaink. "Everybody showed what Chelsea's about. We put a good performance down and for our confidence that's very important."

It may not have been a coincidence that Ranieri broadly reverted to the old guard who have served him well in the past. Claude Makelele and the lively Joe Cole were the only summer signings to start, though Damien Duff, Juan Sebastian Veron and Hernan Crespo are injured.

The four-goal margin flattered Chelsea but they can ignore that. Their challenge is to carry this into a series of Premiership games they will be expected to win if they are going to keep pace with Arsenal and Manchester United.

At times here Chelsea produced moments of high quality. They began excellently, with Eidur Gudjohnsen standing out, and Hasselbaink's 12th-minute goal was well made and executed.

They could have scored four early on, and much of their passing and movement in the first half was impressive, though the chances had tailed off long before Hasselbaink's fortuitous second, which required a big deflection off Nikos Dabizas.

Behind Terry, Cole was Chelsea's best performer. He crossed for the opener and produced several neat passes which Chelsea failed to capitalise on. He continues, though, to be let down by his shooting.

Chelsea had little need to be expansive after the interval but their attacking display was disappointing all the same. Their play was notable more for its doughtiness before their late strikes, with Terry producing two goal-saving headers and Cudicini tipping over from Callum Davidson.

Leicester did make life more difficult by showing more aggression than during the opening period. But their lack of invention was plain and their manager, Micky Adams, said: "(Chelsea) never looked like they were going to concede goals. I thought Terry and Desailly were enormous for them."

Ranieri was delighted with the "character, skills and quality" shown by his side. He is proud of the way his players have responded during the past few weeks.

"It was important to check my players in the bad moments and they answered very well," he said. "They always tried to do something. They always gave their maximum. Sometimes they reached 100 per cent and sometimes 60 per cent but I accepted that."

Hasselbaink improvised well for the first, flicking Cole's cross into the corner from behind his standing leg with his right boot, while his second was more fortunate. Mutu then scored from outside the area before Celestine Babayaro took advantage of an underhit backpass by Paul Brooker to shoot in.

Chelsea have offered €9 million to Rennes for the goalkeeper Petr Cech, and promised to find the French team a replacement.

Guardian Service