The goal topped an impressive display from the heavily-maligned Ukraine striker and Blues coach Avram Grant was delighted to see him firing on all cylinders.

He said: "It was very important for Shevchenko to score. I'm happy he scored. He played well today, which is good for us.

"Shevchenko is a great striker, he knows how to score goals and is intelligent.

"He has now scored four goals this season. Last season he scored 16, yet everyone is disappointed.

"He's been scoring since he was a little child and he did it for us today."

Chelsea bossed the match from start to finish with Sunderland's goal coming under siege for long spells.

But it took Frank Lampard's conversion of a soft 79th-minute penalty - given for Danny Higginbotham's weak pull on Alex - to kill off the Black Cats.

Grant said: "We played very good football today. We moved the ball very well.

"It was patient play from us because it was not easy to play against Sunderland. They defended with a lot of players.

"Our possession in the last two games has been more than 70% which is almost a record.

"We deserved to be 3-0 ahead at half-time because we dominated the match."