THE Chelsea faithful will have to add new counters to their abacuses if things continue like this, and not just to count the score. Yesterday's clinical dismantling of a Manchester City side four places higher than them in the table before the start of play stretches their unbeaten home league record to 68 games. Think about it.

There are young Chelsea fans of eight or nine years of age who have never seen their side lose in the league at home.

Lucky them. If they've been spoiled over the past three or so years, they got another dose of it yesterday, particularly with the quality of their six goals. Michael Essien, Joe Cole, Saloman Kalou, Andriy Shevchenko and Didier Drogba, who netted two, all finished superbly after a sextet of wonderfully constructed moves, five of them down Manchester City's defensively dodgy left-hand side.

You wonder what Roman Abramovich, high above in his private box, made of it all.

Three years ago, he courted Eriksson rather publicly while he was still manager of England, but unlike most of the Swede's suitors, particularly of the female variety, Sven actually turned him down. Why he didn't chase him again during the summer, especially when you considering his rapidly disintegrating relationship with Jose Mourinho, only the man himself knows but it looked a wise move yesterday.

While City were neat, tidy and extremely organised throughout, they remained a little too cautious, with sole striker Georgio Samaras a little too isolated on his own up front. That's the way Mr Eriksson likes to play. Avram Grant, meanwhile, actively encouraged his players to get forward. The 4-3-3 formation that Mourinho often instructed his side to start with usually resembled a 4-5-1 by the time they got onto the pitch but yesterday Grant's three front men remained exactly that. Salomon Kalou, Didier Drogba and Joe Cole caused City's back four all sorts of trouble and you'd imagine if that kind of attacking intent is what Abramovich wants in a coach, then he appears to have made the right choice.

Chelsea's attacking prowess eventually bore fruit on 16 minutes but Eriksson's side had a chance or two themselves before that to cause a bit of bother at the Bridge. A clever free kick from Elano, City's skilful and inventive Brazilian, found Stephen Ireland in space behind Paulo Ferreira at the far post. The young Irishman merely needed to provide a touch, any touch, to direct the ball past Petr Cech but he missed the ball entirely and the Chelsea keeper gratefully palmed the ball behind.

Eight minutes later Cech had to be on his toes again to save a dipping volley from Georgios Samaras but, from there, Chelsea took control.

The home side had clearly identified a weakness on the left-hand side of City's defence, the channel between Micah Richards and Javier Garrido and they began to exploit it. First, Joe Cole and Frank Lampard combined to put Michael Essien clear just inside the right-hand edge of the City area and the Ghanaian shot across the body of Joe Hart and just inside the keeper's right-hand post.

Then, 15 minutes later, Frank Lampard slid a delightful through ball with the outside of his post between Richard Dunne and Richards for Didier Drogba to run onto.

The striker may be unhappy at Stamford Bridge but that didn't stop him firing past Hart from the edge of the box. If only all players could be as unsettled as him. If Chelsea thought the game was over there and then at 20, City soon stirred them out of any potential complacency.

On 38 minutes Ireland, a constant menace to Chelsea coming in off the right flank, found himself unmarked with the ball on the edge of the box and just Cech in front of him.

Ireland did exactly the right thing in attempting to pass the ball past the goalkeeper's right hand and while he managed that, his shot also drifted past the right-hand post.

So close.

That, though, was as good as things were going to get for City. After the interval, whatever Grant said to them in the dressing-room, Chelsea came out as though they were 2-0 down rather than 2-0 up.

On 55 minutes, Lampard, cleverly put through by Michael Essien, shot against the legs of Hart from 10 yards out but Drogba pounced on the rebound and drilled it low to the net. Lampard, clearly enjoying himself at this stage after a sloppy opening half an hour, then saw his low shot from 20 yards turned around the post by the City keeper but the respite was brief. Barley 60 seconds later, Drogba touched an Alex clearance into the path of Cole, who had a clear run on goal. The little fella kept his cool to slip the ball past Hart for Chelsea's fourth. The fifth followed on 75 minutes, Kalou expertly lifting the ball past a now beleaguered Hart after being put clear by Essien, yes, you've guessed it, down City's dodgy left channel. A sixth followed in injury time, down Chelsea's right-hand side again, with substitute Andriy Shevchenko applying the finishing touch this time. City might still sit ahead of Chelsea in the league table, but it won't be for long.