LONDON, 19 December 2004 — Chelsea showed no mercy in extending their Premier League lead to six points yesterday, brushing aside promoted Norwich City 4-0 while second-placed Everton were held to a 0-0 draw at Blackburn Rovers.

First-half goals from Damien Duff, Frank Lampard and Arjen Robben and a superb Didier Drogba header late on handed Jose Mourinho’s side a comfortable win at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea, who have now hit four goals in six of their last nine league games, hold an eight-point advantage over champions Arsenal who can reduce that gap to five if they overcome Portsmouth at Fratton Park today.

Manchester United, in fifth, host Crystal Palace in an evening clash.

Chelsea, who never had to hit top gear, served up another four-goal show for their fans in defeating a Norwich side that have won only two matches since their return to the top flight.

A shock was never in doubt once Duff was gifted his seventh goal of the season on 10 minutes from a wayward pass.

Everton remained in an automatic Champions League place but missed the chance to notch their 12th victory against a resilient Blackburn side who edged out of the relegation zone by taking a point at Ewood Park. Blackburn, without a home league win since September, could have taken all three in stoppage time but Brett Emerton’s deflected shot struck the woodwork.

Middlesbrough leapfrogged Manchester United into fourth, completing a satisfactory week by following up Wednesday’s UEFA Cup win over Partizan Belgrade by seeing off Aston Villa 3-0 at the Riverside.

The result slightly flattered Boro who conceded the majority of possession to Villa but took the points with goals from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Joseph-Desire Job and Michael Reiziger. Tottenham Hotspur manager Martin Jol described Jermain Defoe as the “complete striker” this week and the 22-year-old rewarded his faith with a first Premier League hat trick in a 5-1 demolition of hapless Southampton.

Manchester City inflicted a fourth successive league defeat on Bolton Wanderers, midfielder Joey Barton tapping in the only goal for a 1-0 success at the Reebok.

Birmingham City cruised to their second Premier League derby win in six days, crushing bottom side West Bromwich Albion 4-0 to leave manager Bryan Robson still seeking his first win. Albion have picked up just one point in six games since Robson took over as manager and face an uphill struggle to escape relegation.

Sutton Strike Piles Pressure on Rangers

In Glasgow, a Chris Sutton strike gave Celtic a 1-0 win at home to Dundee United which increased their lead over arch rivals Rangers in the Scottish Premier League to four points.

Despite completely dominating play throughout, Martin O’Neill’s side were unable to kill off the visitors, who had goalkeeper Tony Bullock to thank for a host of vital saves. But the win piles the pressure on Rangers who travel away to Kilmarnock today hoping to keep their domestic challenge on track having exited the UEFA Cup by the back door in midweek. Celtic had been in control from the start and almost took the lead after only five minutes when Sutton’s header from Aiden McGeady’s corner was cleared off the line by Grant Brebner.

In other SPL matches, a late Derek Riordan goal gave Hibernian a 2-1 win at home to Dunfermline. Stephen Glass had opened the scoring for Hibernian with a free-kick from 25-yards in the second-half but Andy Todd equalized for Dunfermline before Riordan’s last gasp strike. Dundee shocked third-placed Aberdeen with a Neil Barrett goal giving them a 1-0 win at Dens Park. The Dons were reduced to 10 men when Steven Craig was sent off in 67 minutes. Inverness Caledonian Thistle won 2-1 at Motherwell with Ritchie Hart and Graeme Bain scoring in the first-half. David Clarkson pulled one back in the second-half but the same player was then sent off late on.