Chelsea crushed Charlton Athletic 4-0 to go five points clear at the top of the English Premier League, while Manchester United extended their winning run with a 3-0 victory at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

Chelsea piled the pressure on champions Arsenal, who play Liverpool on Sunday, with an early strike by Ireland winger Damien Duff, two goals after the break from skipper John Terry and another from Iceland striker Eidur Gudjohnsen.

United, playing a West Brom side under new boss and former Old Trafford idol Bryan Robson, clocked up a third consecutive league win and fifth in all competitions courtesy of two goals from Paul Scholes and one by Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Portsmouth's first game since Harry Redknapp's midweek resignation as manager ended with a 1-0 win at Bolton Wanderers, Southampton drew 2-2 with Crystal Palace and Birmingham City drew 1-1 with Norwich City.

Blackburn Rovers moved out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 win at Fulham in the day's early kickoff. The late game finished with a 2-0 win for Manchester City over Aston Villa, who had midfielder Lee Hendrie red-carded in stoppage time.

Chelsea's title credentials were all in order as they made it 36 points from 15 games, ahead of a faltering Arsenal on 31. Everton, who visit Newcastle United on Sunday, are third on 29 while Manchester United are up to fourth on 27.

After a run of eight wins ended with draws against Bolton and Paris St Germain over the past week, Chelsea's attacking football paid off after only four minutes on Saturday.

DUFF STRIKES

Duff's goal set the tone at The Valley before defender Terry weighed in with two more from corners and Gudjohnsen got the fourth with Dutch winger Arjen Robben a constant threat on the left.

Long qualified for the Champions League knockout stages, Chelsea could well finish the weekend with a commanding lead over their Premier League title rivals in a dream start to manager Jose Mourinho's first season in English football.

Mourinho, whose side have a west London derby at Fulham in the League Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday, felt he had spared Charlton an even worse beating.

"We started the second half incredibly well, we had complete control and if I had left on my three attackers, who were having a great game, the result could have been bigger," Mourinho told Sky Sports News.

"But, as a manager, I have to think about different competitions and after we scored the third goal I started thinking about the Fulham game on Tuesday and giving a good rest to Eidur, Duff and Robben. They can be involved in this game."

Things are also looking up for Alex Ferguson, who celebrated his 1,000th match in charge of Manchester United with a midweek win over Olympique Lyon that booked them into the next round of the Champions League.

Pitting his wits against former United captain Robson, Ferguson's men were pegged back until Scholes opened the scoring with a searing 20-metre shot after 53 minutes.

Van Nistelrooy headed the second goal and Scholes rounded off the scoring in a game United dominated from start to finish leaving West Brom bottom of the table on 10 points.

"I think it was our best 90 minutes of the season in terms of consistency of performance," Ferguson beamed. "Every player on the pitch played really well.

As for Scholes, who only ended a season-long goal drought last weekend, Ferguson said: "You don't lose what he's got. He's one of the best in the world at appearing at the right time on the edge or inside the box. His timing is always fantastic."

There was a winning start for Portsmouth's new executive director Velimir Zajec, acting as caretaker boss after Redknapp's abrupt decision to quit. Dutch defender Arjan De Zeeuw headed Pompey's goal just before the break.

Southampton's draw leaves them in the drop zone on 12 points, ahead of Norwich on goal difference, and will only add to the pressure on embattled manager Steve Wigley.