Nicolas Anelka and Salomon Kalou both scored twice as Chelsea thrashed Wigan.

Florent Malouda gave Chelsea the lead when he tapped in after Frank Lampard's deft flick was saved by Chris Kirkland.

Anelka added a second shortly after the break when he fired in from inside the area and then nodded in his second before Kalou slotted in his first goal.

Didier Drogba then crossed for Kalou to head in his second and Yossi Benayoun rounded off the scoring as Wigan conceded their 10th goal in two games.

Although the scoreline was emphatic, for the first half-an-hour Wigan's simple gameplan of beating Chelsea to the first ball had frustrated the visitors who had won their opening league game 6-0 against West Brom.

Had Wigan possessed Chelsea's confidence in attack then nobody would have begrudged them taking an early lead.

Unfortunately, Roberto Martinez's side lacked invention in and around the area, and their best efforts on goal during that early period came from distance and Hugo Rodallega's traction engine of a foot.

The Colombian's first effort from a 35-yard curling free-kick was comfortably held by Petr Cech.

Rodallega's second strike came from open play - a 25 yarder with a bit more fizz - which was again confidently clung on to by the Blues number one.

As seems to be the way in football, the team who has failed to make the most of their advantage in possession is punished.

With 34 minutes on the clock, Ashley Cole sped down the left and laid a square ball to Lampard in the area. The England's midfielder's initial flicked shot was palmed away by Kirkland only to fall to Malouda, who raced in to tap home.

Any hopes Wigan had of an early second-half riposte were shattered in four cruel minutes for the Lancashire side.

Anelka doubled Chelsea's advantage when he galloped on to John Obi Mikel's hopeful pass and rifled an angled shot low past the Wigan keeper from 10 yards.

Shortly after the restart, Carlo Ancelotti's side added a third when Malouda's cross from the left found Drogba at the far post who nodded back to fellow forward Anelka to head in from a yard.

The France striker appeared to be in an offside position when he converted, which would have been bitterly ironic for Martinez who minutes later saw his striker Mauro Boselli flagged offside after he followed up on James McCarthy's shot that had rebounded off the post.

Things soon got worse for the home side as they lost possession to Drogba in midfield and the Ivorian charged forward before unselfishly setting up Kalou who did the rest.

The Ivory Coast internationals combined again for the fifth when Drogba's outrageous swivel-and-cross from the left was headed in by Kalou at the far post.

Deep into stoppage time the rout was complete when Benayoun guided home fellow substitute Paulo Ferreira's cut-back from the right for the Israeli's first Chelsea league goal.

That was the champions' 12th goal in two games and their 29th in their last four league matches.

Wigan will be glad to see the back of them for a few months, while Stoke, West Ham and Blackpool, who face the Blues in the next few weeks, will be praying for damage limitation.

Source: bbc.co.uk

Twitter