The Blues have suffered a lot of criticism in recent weeks, with some experts even suggesting their title bid was about to collapse after losing to Fulham and drawing at Birmingham.

But, led by captain fantastic John Terry and England teammate Frank Lampard, they roared back in hugely impressive fashion on Sunday.

At one stage the champions were 1-0 down and already reduced to ten men after Maniche had been sent off.

But somehow they found the strength of character to fight back and win 4-1 in the end with goals from Terry, Didier Drogba, Hernan Crespo and William Gallas.

Drogba in particular was outstanding, producing the kind of all-action, powerful display that also silenced his own critics. And manager Mourinho was rightly proud.

He said: "We showed confidence and we showed courage. In this game we played with ten but it looked like we played with 12. The players were in my opinion magnificent."

Chelsea’s wasn’t the only outstanding display of the weekend, with Manchester United’s 2-0 win over deadly rivals Arsenal was also a major result.

Reading’s stunning 5-2 victory at Cardiff deserves a mention, too, and proves exactly why they are heading for the Premiership.

And Sheffield United could be heading the same way after a dramatic 3-2 victory over Hull, secured in the very last minute by David Unsworth.

In League One, what about relegation-threatened Gillingham’s 2-0 victory over promotion-chasing Huddersfield that continued their excellent recent form? Or Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 over Colchester that means, against the odds, they are now in with a realistic chance of grabbing a play-off place.

But sometimes you have to say that one result stands out - and Chelsea’s was that result. It ended their disappointing run and put them right back on track to win their second title in a row.