Chelsea routed neighbours Charlton Athletic in a goal fest of a match on a pitch more suited for beach soccer.
A heavily sanded surface took just two minutes to influence the derby when Charlton left-back Chris Powell mistimed his handling of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who took a tumble in the penalty area following a Graeme Le Saux cross.
Up stepped the Dutchman to dispatch the spot kick with ease, sending goalkeeper Dean Kiely the wrong way in the process as the ball hit the bottom left corner of the net.
Charlton boss Alan Curbishley felt that it was not a penalty: "I was sitting in the stand and had a clear view of the incident and didn't think it was a penalty. Chris (Powell) also said he did not touch him, but the referee gave it.
"We can't afford to be two goals down in ten minutes against a Chelsea side and expect to win." The game will go down as one for Kiely to forget as he was cruelly exposed eight minutes later when right-back William Gallas strode unchallenged from the back.
He latched on to a fine Jesper Gronkjaer pass and whipped in a low, right footer across Kiely's dive from just inside the penalty area. The ball arrowed once again into the bottom left corner of the net.
The match was over as a contest on 33 minutes when Chelsea hit goal number three. A fine counter attacking move saw Hasselbaink and Gronkjaer combine well to feed Eidur Gudjohnsen. The Icelandic striker's right-footed strike from just outside the six-yard box took a slight deflection off Luke Young before sailing past Kiely.
Charlton's never say die spirit saw them start what would have being a remarkable comeback.
Once again a penalty, but this time more clear cut. Emmanuel Petit lost the ball near the edge of the Chelsea box. Marcel Desailly chasing Kevin Lisbie, tugged the striker's shirt and referee Mike Dean pointed to the spot.
Jason Euell comfortably beat Carlo Cudicini, putting the ball wide of the goalkeeper's right-sided dive.
If Kiely cannot be faulted for the first three goals, the fourth was a howler of Sunday league proportions.
Once again a fine Chelsea break saw Le Saux, unmarked 20 yards out. The former England international struck a hard left-footer, straight at Kiely. The goalkeeper somehow managed to let the ball slip out of his grasp and it sliced into the net.
Of the pitch, Chelsea coach Claudio Ranieri said: "It was more like a beach than a pitch, but I was pleased with the way the players reacted to it." Gudjohnsen confirmed that the players were aware of the poor state of the surface but: "We were not going to let it be an excuse," he said.
Ranieri continued that he was pleased with his side's performance: "I was a little worried when John Terry went off early with a back injury, but Jody Morris did really well as did all the players.
"I was glad when we scored the fourth goal as Charlton showed great spirit throughout the match."