Cesc Fabregas's first half goal was enough to secure all three points for Chelsea tonight as the Londoners' 1-0 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light increases their lead at the top of the Premier League to six points, writes Paul Lagan.
This was a solid professional performance from the Blues who had to thank goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois for two second half saves, the second deep into added time.
Head coach Antonio Conte has now overseen 10 straight league wins with minimal changes in personnel.
He was forced to make one at the start as Eden Hazard failed a fitness test - in came Willian.
However he opted to put Nemanja Matic on the bench, replacing the defensive midfielder with Fabregas - who rewarded his boss with the 42nd minute winner.
Sunderland were poor and rightly sit at the foot of the table.
Chelsea are on their travels again at the weekend, but it's not too far - a trip to South-east London to face Crystal Palace.
Chelsea team tonight: Courtois; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill (c); Moses, Kante, Fabregas, Alonso; Willian, Diego Costa, Pedro
subs: Begovic, Ivanovic, Zouma, Chalobah, Matic, Loftus-Cheek, Batshuayi
Sunderland: Pickford; Jones, Djilobodji, Kone, O'Shea, V Aanholt; Denayer, Kirchoff, Januzaj, Borini, Defoe
subs: Mannone, Love, Asoro, Larsson, Khazri, Maja, Honeyman