Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen smashed home two goals apiece against 10-man West Ham to hoist Chelsea back into the FA Barclaycard Premiership title race on Sunday.

The Dutchman rifled home in the 45th and 60th minutes, either side of a superb finish by his strike partner Gudjohnsen, to erase memories of the 4-2 defeat by Southampton and 2-2 draw at Bolton.

The first half was dominated by Chelsea - and before Hasselbaink's polished 45th-minute finish, the home side, fielding three strikers in Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen and Gianfranco Zola, forced David James to make five smart saves.

The pick of these was a spectacular arching dive to tip a 25-yard Hasselbaink free-kick away from the top corner of his net.

Gudjohnsen's 50th-minute bullet finish from 12 yards gave the Blues a 2-0 lead - and Hasselbaink completed his brace on the hour when he beat James at the second attempt after a Zola through-ball.

Just when the 3,000 Hammers fans thought their afternoon could not possibly get any worse, Paolo di Canio stamped on Jody Morris and was shown the red card by referee Andy D'Urso.

But there was still time for Gudjohnsen's cool finish for his second, as well as a consolation goal by Jermain Defoe and Mikael Forssell's sidefoot finish for the fifth goal for the home side.

The home side looked dangerous throughout in the sweeping rain - and in the 10th minute, James made his first stop, gathered Zola's stinging 20-yard drive at the second attempt.

The visiting shot-stopper had a lucky escape in the 16th minute when Mario Stanic let fly with another 20-yard drive.

The swerve on the ball deceived the Hammers number one and he had to palm clear to avoid what would have been a very soft goal.

Hasselbaink then unleashed a ferocious 25-yard free-kick, which James responded to with a sensational one-handed save to tip the ball over his crossbar.

From the resulting corner, Stanic shoved Nigel Winterburn out of the way and headed into the net - but D'Urso correctly scrubbed off the 'goal' and awarded a Hammers free-kick for Stanic's foul.

Chelsea then wasted two fine one-on-one scoring chances. First, Hasselbaink raced onto Gudjohnsen's head-on but uncharacteristically dallied on the ball, allowing Sebastien Schemmel to clear the danger.

Then a terrible piece of defending by West Ham's Tomas Repka almost gift-wrapped the opener for Zola.

Repka inexplicably failed to make a simple clearance and allowed the ball to run into Zola's path. However, James raced from his goalline and made another world-class block.

Joe Cole, the Hammers' most dangerous player, brought a save from Carlo Cudicini just before the interval.

The breakthrough the home side richly deserved arrived in stoppage time after a Zola corner.

Gudjohnsen's far-post shot was brilliantly blocked again by James, but the keeper was finally beaten by Hasselbaink's follow-up drive that found its way through a forest of legs and into the bottom corner.

And West Ham's task was made twice as hard five minutes after the interval when Terry found Gudjohnsen with a diagonal cross. The Icelander delivered a superb bullet finish, with the ball ricochetting into James' net via the post to give the Blues a 2-0 lead.

Number three arrived 10 minutes later when the Blues broke and Hasselbaink outpaced Christian Dailly to reach a Zola through-ball.

James made yet another fine block, but the ball cruelly rebounded straight to the Dutchman's feet and he dispatched his second goal into an open net.

Zola danced through the Hammers backline and shot just a foot wide of the goal from 16 yards - and then whipped a free-kick inches over the bar.

And there was drama after 69 minutes when di Canio stamped on Blues substitute Morris' thigh after a tackle and was correctly shown the red card.

The Italian was keen to apologise for his actions and shook hands with D'Urso, Morris and Ranieri on his way to the tunnel.

There was a spectacular finale to the match with three goals in as many minutes.

Gudjohnsen first waltzed through the Hammers defence to plant his second beyond James' dive - and West Ham sub Jermain Defoe hit a fine consolation goal a minute later after a precise Schemmel through-ball.

But Blues sub Forssell tucked home the home side's fifth after 89 minutes from a Stanic pass.

Teams

Chelsea: Cudicini, Desailly, Terry, Gallas, Melchiot, Stanic, Lampard, Petit (Morris 62), Zola (Zenden 74), Hasselbaink (Forssell 79), Gudjohnsen.

Subs Not Used: de Goey, Keenan.

Booked: Stanic, Zola, Morris.

Goals: Hasselbaink 45, Gudjohnsen 51, Hasselbaink 60, Gudjohnsen 87, Forssell 90.

West Ham: James, Repka, Winterburn, Dailly, Schemmel, Cole, Carrick, Hutchison, Sinclair (Courtois 64), Kanoute (Defoe 79), Di Canio.

Subs Not Used: Andersson, Foxe, Kitson.

Sent Off: Di Canio (70).

Booked: Sinclair.

Goals: Defoe 88.

Att: 40,035

Ref: A D'Urso (Billericay).