Charlton 0 Chelsea 4

IT MAY be a touch premature to award Chelsea the Barclays Premiership title before the Christmas illuminations are switched on. But the temptation is hard to resist.

Managers, of course, will be rather more cautious and doubtless we shall be offered that trusted cliché about the Premiership being more of a marathon than a sprint.

Perhaps so, but as Charlton discovered on Saturday, Chelsea are assembling a formidable platform and on this evidence they seem ominously capable of crossing the finishing line with plenty of points to spare.

Charlton won last season's corresponding fixture 4-2 as they romped to arguably their finest win of the campaign.

There was no chance of a repeat this time as the Addicks disappeared under a remorseless landslide. On this form Chelsea are a class beyond even their most determined challengers.

All of which is no consolation to Charlton supporters, many of whom had paid £45 to see their favourites succumb to a fourth four-goal defeat of the season.

They were even denied the opportunity of telling former favourite Scott Parker what they thought of him and his controversial move to Chelsea last season. He was not even among the Chelsea substitutes.

It could have been worse. Even manager Alan Curbishley confessed he feared a disaster when the score reached 4-0 with 31 minutes still to play.

The outcome would have been greeted with similar disdain in the boardroom, where relations between the two sets of directors have remained frosty since Ken Bates ruled the roost at Stamford Bridge.

The disaster never materialised, but try telling that to the Charlton faithful after this half-hearted surrender to old rivals who conceded two goals in a Premiership match the previous weekend for the first time in 17 games.

In midweek, they were less than impressive against an ailing Paris St Germain in the Champions League at Stamford Bridge.

But if Charlton believed they could exploit what some perceived as a stumble, their hopes died within four minutes as Damien Duff sprinted on to Eidur Gudjohnsen's pass, shrugged off the challenge of Paul Konchesky and nonchalantly side-footed home the first.

Two further goals followed in a space of three minutes immediately after half time and by the time Gudjohnsen added a fourth in the 59th minute, many Charlton supporters were voting with their feet and heading for the exits.

Curbishley conceded: "If you go out in the second half and concede two goals in a minute, both from set-pieces, you've got problems.

"Three down at home with a long, long way to go, you've got it all to do to stop it being an absolute disaster.

"And I'll admit, an absolute disaster did cross my mind because Chelsea were playing so freely. What disappointed me most we the goals we conceded.

"The first was avoidable, but to let in two goals, both from corners in the space of a few minutes, is not us. I knew we would not come back from 3-0. We've been badly hurt."

Curbishley confirmed he had put the previously ever-present Hermann Hreidarsson on the bench after he pulled up with a back injury in training on Tuesday.

Hreidarsson came on as a 63rd minute substitute and such was his impact his manager was moved to admit: "What he did do - and I've told the rest of them - he showed more in 25 minutes than they showed in the rest of the game.

"He won more headers than tackles in 25 minutes than the rest of them put together."

Charlton seldom convinced in front of goal. They went closest in the 37th minute when Jonathan Fortune's header was deflected on to a goalpost by Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho.

Charlton: Kiely, Young, Fortune, El Karkouri, Konchesky, Kishishev (Hreidarsson 63), Holland, Johansson, Murphy (Euell 63), Thomas (Rommedahl 63), Barlett. Subs Not Used: Andersen, Jeffers.

Chelsea: Cech, Ferriera, Terry, Carvalho, Gallas, Makalele, Lampard, Tiago, Duff (Geremi 70), Robben (Babayaro 78), Gudjohnsen (Drogba 60). Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Smertin.

Attendance: 26, 355