John Terry returned to banish some of his England frustrations as Chelsea strode to a 2-0 victory over Derby at Pride Park, which was marred by Michael Essien's late red card.
Ghanian international Essien had only been introduced to the game as a second-half substitute, but he was sent-off by referee Andre Marriner for striking Derby striker Kenny Miller with an elbow.
The loss of the midfielder was the only negative for Israeli coach Avram Grant, who in now unbeaten in 12 matches after goals from Salomon Kalou and Shaun Wright-Phillips.
Terry could not have chosen a more ideal game to ease himself back into action after seven weeks out following knee surgery.
The England captain had more trouble with the hostile Derby crowd than anyone on the pitch. In keeping with the trend all around England Terry and the rest of his international colleagues were roundly jeered every time they touched the ball, with most of the vitriol being reserved for midfielder Frank Lampard.
Wright-Phillips did not escape the treatment either, but at least he silenced some of the jeers with his first goal of the season in the 73rd minute to add to the earlier goal from Kalou, which made it five wins in their last six outings to move within five points of Premier League leaders Arsenal.
If only Derby manager Billy Davies had been given the same kind of passion from his players as he received from his supporters, but the Rams are a team waiting to be relegated and it was only a matter of when rather than if Chelsea took advantage of the most generous defence in the Premier League.
Derby, with only one league victory all season, resisted for only 17 minutes before they capitulated and in the absence of his Ivory Coast colleague Didier Drogba because of a knee injury sustained in midweek, Kalou accepted the responsibility of providing goals.
Steve Sidwell has had to wait to make an impact, but his perfectly weighted pass into the area enabled Kalou to supply the finish to some excellent build-up play, which also involved Andriy Shevchenko and Jon Obi Mikel and the former Feyenoord striker should have made the game safe before half-time.
A bizarre attempt at a headed clearance by Claude Davis, from Shaun Wright-Phillips's cross, fell right at the feet of Kalou six yards out, but somehow he managed to lift his shot over the crossbar, but fortune did not always favour Derby.
Without a goal since 29 September, Miller had a perfectly good one ruled out for off-side, when Dean Leacock's clever lob over Carlo Cudicini beat the trap.
Davies was also enraged by the tackle from behind by Shevchenko on Giles Barnes, which went un-punished in the build up to Chelsea's second goal.
Referee Marriner allowed play to continue and when Lampard's eventual shot rebounded off the near post, Wright-Phillips eased some of his midweek frustrations with a close-range finish for his first goal for Chelsea since April.
It sentenced Derby to their fifth defeat in their last six games and push them another step closer an immediate return to the Championship.
There was still time for Essien to get dismissed as tempers started to flare late in the game.
