Chelsea beat new-entrants Stoke City 2-0 in the Premiership clash at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday to move to the top of the table before Arsenal take on Hull City in the late kick-off.

Summer-signing Jose Bosingwa opened his Blues scoring account with a first-half strike before substitute Nicolas Anelka added to the tally in the second half.

Stoke suffered a blow before the kick-off as long-throw expert Rory Delap failed a late fitness test, and Leon Cort started the game. Chelsea had Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou in the starting line-up while Anelka took a place on the bench.

Tony Pulis’ side frustrated the mighty Blues for long periods with Thomas Sorensen having a busy afternoon in the Stoke goal.

Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side controlled the first half, but were denied by Denmark international Sorensen on two notable occasions, first when the former Aston Villa keeper tipped over a Michael Ballack strike from 20 yards. The 32-year-old then made a fine save to deny Didier Drogba.

Stoke, who held Liverpool goalless last weekend at Anfield, also threatened occasionally through Mamady Sidibe, whose header following a corner in the 36th minute, was saved by Petr Cech following a corner kick.

Portuguese full-back Bosingwa put the visitors ahead in the 37th minute as he beautifully controlled a delightfully chipped cross from Frank Lampard and slammed an angular shot from right side of the box with a deflection off Potters captain Andy Griffin taking the ball into the net.

The woodwork saved Stoke from going behind further, early in the second half with Florent Malouda denied. The home side, however, tightened up and put some pressure on the rivals.

The Potters almost succeeded in getting the equaliser, but it needed Mikel to make a goalline clearance to preserve Blues’ lead following a shaky piece of defending after a Stoke corner by Liam Lawrence.

With the game taking the shape of an even contest, substitute Anelka had a great chance to double Blues’ lead, but the Frenchman went for power rather than going for direction and wasted the opportunity in the 67th minute.

Stoke looked up to the task as they continued to fight with substitute Fuller also getting in the thick of the action. However, the visitors soon ensured they would go back to London with full points.

Anelka made amends to his earlier wild finish when he latched on a mistake in the rival defence in the 76th minute, and smashed an angular shot on target from the right side of the penalty area evading the diving Sorensen with Bosingwa providing the cross.

Minutes later, Ballack tried a curling long-range drive, which however, missed the target narrowly. Lampard had a couple of shots in the closing stages, but was thwarted.

Teams:

Stoke: Sorensen, Griffin, Cort, Diagne-Faye, Higginbotham, Olofinjana, Diao, Lawrence (Tonge 66), Cresswell, Kitson (Fuller 53), Sidibe (Faye 81).

Substitutes not used: Simonsen, Sonko, Soares, Whelan.

Chelsea: Cech, Terry, Cole A, Bosingwa, Alex, Malouda, Ballack (Paulo Ferreira 90), Lampard, Mikel, Kalou (Anelka 46), Drogba (Belletti 73).

Substitutes not used: Hilario, Bridge, Ivanovic, Sinclair.