Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres applied the gloss to a workmanlike 2-0 victory at Hull City that lifted Chelsea ominously to the top of the Premier League yesterday.

In true Jose Mourinho style, the Londoners first nullified the minimal threat posed by Hull, then cut through at will after the break when classy goals by Hazard and Torres earned the Blues a fourth consecutive league victory.

Mourinho’s in-form side have 46 points, one more than second-placed Arsenal who visit Aston Villa tomorrow and two ahead of Manchester City who travel to Newcastle United this afternoon.

Champions Manchester United remained in seventh place, nine points behind Chelsea, but at least got back to winning ways with a 2-0 home defeat of Swansea City that put a smile back on the face of manager David Moyes after three consecutive defeats.

Everton rose to fourth with 41 points courtesy of a 2-0 home win over Norwich City and Tottenham Hotspur have 40 in fifth after beating Crystal Palace 2-0.

With Sunderland winning 4-1 at Fulham and West Ham United sinking Cardiff City 2-0, Palace now prop up the table although only six points separate them from 10th-placed Hull.

West Bromwich Albion manager Pepe Mel watched his new club lose 1-0 at mid-table Southampton.

It was about as stress-free a Saturday lunchtime as Chelsea could have wished for at Hull.

They easily coped with the home side’s lacklustre attacks and when they attacked Hazard provided the spark.

The Belgian fired a low shot home following a jinking burst in the 56th minute and Spain striker Torres marked his 200th Premier League appearance with a clinical late strike.

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech also set a club record of 209 clean sheets, 150 of them in the league.

The Czech international was barely troubled as he edged in front of Stamford Bridge great Peter Bonetti, his only save of note coming from Jake Livermore’s swerving effort before half-time.

Without scaling the heights, Chelsea are beginning to hit top gear at just the right time, churning out wins and clean sheets just as they did in Mourinho’s first stint in charge.

“Today we had the extra pressure of not losing the chance to be top even for a few hours,” the manager said.

“I feel the team is improving step by step, all the players are stable and the young players are improving. You can feel the evolution in the team.”

With strikers Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie missing, Manchester United laboured against Swansea in the first half at Old Trafford and there were grumbles among the home fans.

Antonio Valencia lifted the mood when he tapped the ball in after 47 minutes and then Danny Welbeck flicked in United’s second goal to clinch the win.

Gareth Barry’s 50th league goal helped Everton to victory over Norwich at Goodison Park before Kevin Mirallas made it 2-0 with a free-kick.

England striker Jermain Defoe reminded Tottenham fans what they will be missing when he joins Toronto on Feb. 28, scoring the second goal against Palace after coming off the bench to replace Roberto Soldado.

Palace wasted the chance to go ahead in the first half when Jason Puncheon sliced a penalty high and wide.

After conceding 11 goals without scoring in two crushing cup defeats and falling into the bottom three, West Ham produced a gutsy display to win at Cardiff despite having James Tomkins sent off and fellow defender Guy Demel taken to hospital.

Carlton Cole gave the Hammers the lead and Mark Noble scored in stoppage time after being set up by fit-again England striker Andy Carroll who was making his first appearance of the season.

Adam Johnson grabbed a hat-trick against Fulham to lift Sunderland off the bottom.

Premier League results, standings

Cardiff City 0
West Ham 2
C. Cole 42; Noble 90;

HT: 0-1. Att: 27,750.
Red card: Tomkins (WH) 70.

Everton 2
Barry 23; Mirallas 59;
Norwich City 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 36,827.

Fulham 1
Sidwell 52;
Sunderland 4
Johnson 29, 70; Johnson 85 pen; Ki 41;

HT: 0-2. Att: 25,564.

Hull City 0
Chelsea 2
Hazard 56; Torres 87;

HT: 0-0. Att: 24,924.

Man. United 2
Valencia 47; Welbeck 59;
Swansea City 0

HT: 0-0. Att: 75,035.

Southampton 1
Lallana 66;
West Brom 0

HT: 0-0. Att: 28,610.

Tottenham 2
Eriksen 50; Defoe 73;
Crystal Palace 0

HT: 0-0. Att: 36,102.
Missed penalty: Puncheon (CP) 8.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Chelsea	21	14	4	3	40	19	46
Arsenal	20	14	3	3	39	18	45
Man. City	20	14	2	4	57	23	44
Everton	21	11	8	2	34	19	41
Tottenham	21	12	4	5	26	25	40
Liverpool	20	12	3	5	46	23	39
Man. United	21	11	4	6	35	24	37
Newcastle	20	10	3	7	29	25	33
Southampton	21	8	6	7	27	23	30
Hull City	21	6	5	10	22	27	23
Aston Villa	20	6	5	9	19	25	23
Stoke City	20	5	7	8	19	30	22
Swansea City	21	5	6	10	26	30	21
West Brom	21	4	9	8	23	28	21
Norwich City	21	5	5	11	17	35	20
Fulham	21	6	1	14	22	46	19
West Ham	21	4	6	11	21	30	18
Cardiff City	21	4	6	11	15	34	18
Sunderland	21	4	5	12	19	34	17
C. Palace	21	5	2	14	13	31	17

Playing today
Newcastle Utd vs Man. City - 15:05
Stoke City vs Liverpool - 17:10

Tomorrow
Aston Villa vs Arsenal - 21:00

Next fixtures
Saturday: 13.45 Sunderland vs South-ampton. 16.00 Arsenal vs Fulham; C. Palace vs Stoke; Man. City vs Cardiff; Norwich vs Hull; West Ham vs New-castle. 18.30 Liverpool vs Aston Villa.
Sunday: 14.30 Swansea vs Tottenham. 17.00 Chelsea vs Man. United.
Monday, Jan. 20: 21.00 West Brom vs Everton.

Top scorers
20 goals: Suarez (Liverpool).
13 goals: Aguero (Man. City).
10 goals: Remy (Newcastle), Toure (Man. City).
9 goals: Sturridge (Liverpool), Rooney (Man. United), Lukaku (Everton), Hazard (Chelsea).

The Championship
Blackburn 1 - Doncaster 0
Blackpool 0 - Middlesbrough 2
Bolton 1 - Nottm Forest 1
Brighton 1 - Birmingham 0
Charlton p - Barnsley p
Huddersfield 1 - Millwall 0
Ipswich Town 1 - QPR 3
Sheffield Wed. 6 - Leeds United 0
Watford 0 - Reading 1
Wigan 3 - Bournemouth 0
Yeovil 1 - Burnley 2

Standings: Leicester 54; Burnley 50; QPR 49; Derby 44; N. Forest 41; Brighton 39; Reading 38; Blackburn 37; Ipswich, Wigan 36; Leeds 35; Huddersfield 34; Middlesbrough 33; Blackpool 32; Watford, Bournemouth 30; Birmingham 29; Bolton 28; Sheffield Wed. 25; Charlton 24; Millwall 22; Doncaster 21; Yeovil; Barnsley 17.

League One
Bradford 1 - Bristol City 1
Brentford 2 - Port Vale 0
Colchester 3 - Gillingham 0
Leyton Orient 4 - Carlisle 0
MK Dons 3 - Shrewsbury 2
Notts County 2 - Sheff. United 1
Oldham 1 - Stevenage 0
Rotherham 4 - Crewe2
Swindon Town 2 - Peterborough 1
Tranmere 1 - Walsall 1
Wolves 2 - Preston 0

Playing today
Coventry vs Crawley - 16:00

Standings: Brentford 55; Leyton Orient 54; Wolves 52; Preston 47; Rotherham 41; Peterborough 39; Walsall 38; Swindon 37; Port Vale 36; MK Dons 35; Coventry, Bradford 32; Colchester 31; Crawley, Gillingham 29; Oldham, Carl-isle 27; Shrewsbury 26; Sheffield Utd, Tranmere 25; Notts County, Crewe 24; Bristol City 23; Stevenage 19.

League Two
Accrington 3 - Newport 3
Wimbledon 0 - Torquay 2
Bristol Rovers 2 - Exeter 1
Burton 2 - Cheltenham 1
Chesterfield 4 - Bury 0
Dagenham 0 - Fleetwood 1
Hartlepool 0 - Rochdale 3
Mansfield 0 - Scunthorpe 2
Morecambe 1 - Wycombe 1
Northampton 0 - York City 2
Oxford 0 - Portsmouth 0
Plymouth 1 - Southend 1

Standings: Scunthorpe 47; Burton Albion 45; Chesterfield 44; Rochdale 43; Southend 42; Fleetwood Town 41; Oxford 39; Newport 38; Morecambe 37; Dagenham, Plymouth 34; Cheltenham 33; Exeter 32; York City, Wimbledon, Hartlepool 31; Mansfield 29; Wycombe 28; Bury, Portsmouth 27; Bristol Rovers, Accrington, Torquay 26; Northampton Town 22.