A deadly double from Didier Drogba helped Chelsea see off struggling London rivals West Ham and fire the Blues back to the top of the Premier League.

Centre back Alex had set Carlo Ancelotti’s men on their way with a 16th-minute header only for Scott Parker to level for West Ham with a blockbusting finish against his old club.

But second-half goals from Drogba and Florent Malouda sealed the points that fired the Stamford Bridge outfit back to the Premier League summit and piled more pressure on Gianfranco Zola’s relegation-threatened Hammers.

And Ancelotti praised the discipline his side are beginning to show as the race for the league title hots up.

“We played well and had a lot of chances and maintained control,” Ancelotti said.

“We have to maintain this in every match.”

Last weekend’s FA Cup win over Stoke City had silenced talk of a growing crisis at Stamford Bridge that followed successive defeats to Inter Milan and Manchester City.

Yet while Chelsea were securing their place in the semi-finals of the Cup, they were leapfrogged at the top of the table by Manchester United.

But they took the first chance they had to reclaim the position they have had for most of the season despite preparations being hampered by an injury to stand-in keeper Hilario.

The Portuguese was drafted in after Petr Cech was injured against Inter but pulled his groin against Stoke, meaning Ross Turnbull made his first league start since his move from Middlesbrough.

And despite conceding to Parker’s thunderbolt, Ancelotti hailed his stand-in, goalkeeper’s contribution.

“He did well, he played with confidence and he is a good goalkeeper. I think he will be in goal on Tuesday (against Inter Milan), we have confidence in him,” the Italian said.

West Ham started the game strongly, and should have taken control in the 13th minute but Ilan blazed over from ten yards out.

The miss proved costly when his fellow Brazilian Alex put Chelsea ahead minutes later from a Florent Malouda cross. Chelsea began to dominate and should have put the game out of the visitors’ reach long before half time.

But Zola’s side levelled when Parker latched onto a loose ball 30 yards out and sent a volley beyond Turnbull to equalise.

The Hammers finished the first half with confidence but that quickly faded after the break when Drogba headed home in the 56th minute.

Malouda than claimed a third and Drogba completed the scoring in the final minute, to collect his 27th of the season.

Chelsea: Turnbull, Ivanovic (Zhirkov 80), Ferreira, Terry, Alex , Lampard, Mikel, Ballack, Malouda (Kalou 87), Drogba, Anelka (J Cole 66)

West Ham: Green, Gabbidon, Upson, Spector, Daprela, Dyer (Stanislas 68), Parker, Kovac, Behrami, Ilan (Alessandro Diamanti 83), Mido (Cole 67)

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Crucial victory keeps wolves from the door

While Chelsea were celebrating returning to the Premier League summit Wolves had their own, very different reasons for celebrating.

Mick McCarthy’s men earned a crucial 2-1 win away at fellow strugglers Burnley to edge away from the relegation trapdoor.

But the Clarets only had themselves to blame for a defeat that leaves them in the relegation zone, three points adrift of safety.

A misjudged back-header by Tyrone Mears gifted Matt Jarvis the chance to give Wolves the lead midway through the first half, and the visitors doubled their advantage when Clarke Carlisle put through his own goal.

A 73rd-minute header from substitute Steven Thompson ensured a tense finale to the match but Wolves held on for the three points and left Burnley boss Brian Laws to endure the jeers of the angry home supporters.

And a delighted McCarthy said: “We’ve been playing well and I said if we keep playing that way our luck will change.

“The whole team showed some very good character today. We got ourselves a bit of a cushion then we had to defend stoutly and manfully, and we did that.”

Burnley boss Brian Laws meanwhile, admitted the defeat was hard to take but urged his players to forget it and focus on the relegation scrap.

“We feel a little hard done by but we’ve got to move on. It’s a huge knock but the season doesn’t end today and there are still eight games to go,” he said. “There are still a lot of points to be played for and we can’t let it affect us and destroy our last eight games.”

Bolton eased their own relegation worries as they hammered Wigan at the Reebok Stadium.

The Latics, who beat Champions League-chasing Liverpool 1-0 on Monday, were brought back down to earth as goals from Johan Elmander, Kevin Davies, Fabrice Muamba and Matt Taylor earned Owen Coyle’s Bolton a 4-0 victory.

Aston Villa’s hopes a Champions League place took a huge hit as they were held to a goalless draw by gutsy Stoke.

Everton and Birmingham, both chasing a Europa League spot shared the spoils in a four-goal thriller.

Everton took the lead through a Victor Anichebe strike and doubled it when Yakubu poked home. But Birmingham ground out a draw with goals from Cameron Jerome and Craig Gardner.