In Chelsea's title-winning campaign during the 2009-10 season, it seemed like no team was capable of stopping Carlo Ancelotti's attack.
After struggling to climb out of Jose Mourinho's shadow following his departure, Chelsea were challengers once again under Ancelotti, and the Italian guided his side to the title with a free-flowing attacking game.
On this day in 2010, Sunderland were the next victims in Chelsea's charge to the title as the hosts triumphed 7-2 at Stamford Bridge.
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Chelsea were without Didier Drogba, John Obi Mikel, Michael Essien and Salomon Kalou as the quartet were away for the Africa Cup of Nations, but their teammates stepped up, with Nicolas Anelka thriving in attack.
It was Anelka who got the ball rolling inside eight minutes when he latched on to a clever through-ball from Michael Ballack before rounding Martin Fulop to slot in the opener.
Sunderland's defence looked nervy from the first whistle, and there was no sign of the visiting back four improving as Florent Malouda sprinted forward unchallenged to fire home from the edge of the box.
A moment of magic from an unexpected source effectively ended Sunderland's hopes in the 22nd minute as Ashley Cole brought down a lofted pass from John Terry before evading Lorik Cana's challenge and calmly finishing to make it 3-0.
Sunderland were in disarray at the back, and Chelsea refused to take a backward step, with Frank Lampard stretching in the box to volley home his side's fourth from Cole's cross.
It could have been worse before the break, but Ballack, Anelka and Joe Cole all missed good chances as Fulop was hung out to dry by his struggling defence.
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The second half started in similar fashion to the first as Ballack benefited from some incredibly poor marking to head in from Cole's inviting ball into the box.
Perhaps the biggest surprise came when Sunderland reduced the effort through Boudewijn Zenden, who latched on to a Kenwyne Jones knockdown to score on the ground he used to call home.
However, it was a rare bright moment on a miserable afternoon for Steve Bruce's side as Anelka made it 6-1 by tapping in after Fulop had failed to deal with Yuri Zhirkov's cross.
Despite finishing the match with seven goals, Chelsea probably felt unlucky not to reach double figures as Fulop made a brilliant save to deny Anelka a hat-trick and Joe Cole headed against the post.
Lampard scored his side's seventh in the final minute of normal time by finding enough space in the box to head home his second as Anelka turned provider on the wing.
Darren Bent completed a remarkable afternoon by latching on to a loose ball to score from close range, but it came as little consolation to the travelling Sunderland supporters, who had nothing to show for their long trip to West London.
"We have just given maybe our best performance of the season. This is how we should continue to play from now until the end of the campaign," Ancelotti told reporters.
Ancelotti's comments after the game suggested that it might not get better for Chelsea, but in truth, it was just another emphatic victory in a season when the Blues set a new record by scoring 103 goals on their way to the title.
Callum Mulvihill
