Chelsea win seven-goal thriller at Sunderland

Chelsea have registered a 4-3 victory over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light to remain four points behind leaders Arsenal in the Premier League.

The Blues were stunned in the 14th minute when Jozy Altidore turned John Terry and put the ball past Petr Cech with his left foot.

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However, Jose Mourinho's side restored parity just three minutes later when Frank Lampard headed in Eden Hazard's corner.

Lampard could have doubled his tally before the half-hour mark, but he saw his shot go wide.

Moments later, though, Petr Cech was called into action as he kept out Andrea Dossena's effort.

Chelsea ended the half on a positive note as they went 2-1 up with 10 minutes remaining, thanks to Hazard cutting inside and bending his shot past Vito Mannone.

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The topsy-turvy nature of the contest continued in the second half as the Black Cats restored parity in the 49th minute.

Fabio Borini fired in a low cross that Wes Brown failed to connect with, but John O'Shea turned it in to send the home supporters into a frenzy.

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Hazard soon quietened them down with his second goal of the evening just past the hour mark.

The Belgian ran down the left flank, played a one-two with Lampard, got the better of the Sunderland defenders and then slammed home from inside the box.

Chelsea could have added more to their tally in the subsequent minutes had Willian, Demba Ba and Ramires not squandered away their chances.

There was late drama from Sunderland defender Phillip Bardsley as he turned in a Ba cross into his net in the 83rd minute, before going up the other end and poking home a cross to make edgy for the visitors in the final minutes of the contest.