West Ham United 1 Chelsea 4: Wright-Phillips in from the cold to keep Chelsea in hot pursuit

Life at Chelsea now dictates that there must be a new hero every match to keep their remarkable march on track and for Shaun Wright-Phillips that day could not come soon enough. From the shadows of the Chelsea squad and into the light, the two goals for the £21m man solved all Jose Mourinho's problems last night.

Not even a brick thrown at the window of the Chelsea bus appeared to shake the progress of the team themselves who have, of late, been advancing with all the certainty of an armoured car across a field of daisies. Once again the gap to Manchester United at the top of the table is back down to three points, and once again the question is asked of the Premiership leaders: will their nerve hold with the blue machine rumbling relentlessly behind them?

Chelsea's other two goals came from Salomon Kalou and Didier Drogba after a very brief period of parity that followed Carlos Tevez's brilliant equaliser on 35 minutes. The time that elapsed between Chelsea kicking off again and re-taking the lead through Wright-Phillips was clocked at 30.8 seconds. It was so fleeting that some of the West Ham players appeared to have barely ceased their celebrations when the second Chelsea goal flew in. Bricking the bus is one way of trying to stop Chelsea, but the word from the club's officials was that it did not even smash through the glass. Just a scratch for the team who have not lost a match since 20 January and, bloodied but unbowed, have now gone 20 games without defeat. In the last three weeks, the match-winners have come from all over the pitch. For Wright-Phillips, the timing of his first ever Premiership goals for Chelsea was fortunate indeed.

"The window got shattered on the outside on the way in," Lampard said. "The outer layer broke and it made a huge bang. It's football ­ it happens, there are emotions. West Ham are fighting for their lives and the fans are coming here tonight knowing there will be emotion so I don't think there is too much point dwelling on it. As long as no one gets hurt and we move on."

That was generous from a man whose every touch was predictably booed last night and Lampard paid tribute to Wright-Phillips. His goals, after almost two years of struggle after the transfer from Manchester City, have been a long time coming.

"The feeling is incredible," Wright-Phillips said. "The lads have been behind me and believed in me from the start. The more games I play, the better it is for me." There was no sign of Jose Mourinho after the match, presumably the Chelsea manager was making sure he did not have the draughty seat on the team bus.

Alan Curbishley has four games now to save West Ham who are five points from safety and he bemoaned the manner in which Chelsea were allowed to take their lead back so easily. It would have been a lot worse for his side without Carlos Tevez. The volume rose steadily inside Upton Park as the game drew to a hopeless conclusion for the home fans, and they must know that they will have to win their next three games to stay up before they play Manchester United on the last day of the season. The tension was rising in the stadium and there were half-time teas thrown at Kalou when he celebrated the third goal ­ one of the perils of scoring so soon after the break at West Ham.

No Andrei Shevchenko for Chelsea, his injury against Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup semi-final was deemed serious enough to rule him out of last night's match and possibly even Sunday's visit to Newcastle as he prepares for a hectic end to the season.

Ashley Cole was also given the evening off and Michael Ballack was only a late substitute. Mourinho had said he would have to play his best team in every game but, it seems, even this Chelsea team have their limits.

In midfield for Chelsea, Jon Obi Mikel was an impressive performer but the breakthrough came from Wright-Phillips after 34 minutes. Gliding between two defenders ­ Jonathan Spector and Yossi Benayoun ­ he spun to face the goal and dispatched a left-foot shot low to Robert Green's left.

At the other end of the pitch, Tevez crackled into life immediately. His equaliser was even better, cutting back across the face of the box, he struck a shot across Petr Cech and into the far corner. On a second viewing, as most of Upton Park went berserk, the Chelsea goalkeeper seemed to get close enough to the shot to keep it out.

That was the 34th minute but as the stewards cleared the odd stray home fan back into the Bobby Moore stand, Wright-Phillips struck again. This was a different kind of goal to his first but technically just as adept. Wayne Bridge crossed from the left and Wright-Phillips met it first time as he ran towards the near post, steering it into the top corner of Green's goal. On 51 minutes, Lampard won a free-kick in the right channel and struck a devilish low curling ball to the back post. In the frenzy in the goalmouth, Green did well to block the first attempt from Drogba but he could not stop Kalou who was barely two yards out when he forced the ball home. The fourth will have been just as painful for Curbishley to watch. Lucas Neill should have been first as he chased the ball back to his own goal but fell over and Drogba tucked the loose ball through Green's legs. The rest was a formality for Chelsea.

West Ham United (4-4-2): Green; Spector, Collins, Neill, McCartney; Benayoun, Reo-Coker (Mullins, 76), Noble, Boa Morte; Tevez (Blanco, 83), Zamora (C Cole, 72). Substitutes not used: Carroll (gk), Davenport.

Chelsea ( 4-1-3-2): Cech; Diarra (Ferreira, h-t), Carvalho, Terry, Bridge; Mikel; Wright-Phillips, Essien, Lampard (Ballack, 78); Drogba (J Cole, 67), Kalou. Substitutes not used: Cudicini (gk), Makelele.

Referee: M Dean (Wirral).

Booked: West Ham Neill, Reo-Coker, Mullins, Boa Morte, McCartney; Chelsea Diarra, Drogba.

Man of the match: Wright-Phillips.

Attendance: 34,966.