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Both Chelsea and Liverpool came into Sunday's game at Stamford Bridge under pressure following poor results in their previous games. Chelsea had somehow managed to lose at Wigan last weekend and Liverpool had put in a dreadful performance at Fiorentina in the Champions League.
Both managers had assured the media at their respective press conferences that their teams would bounce back and get on the winning trail again but, of course, only one team could do this, thus relegating the other to a 'mini crisis'.
It was no surprise that it was the home side which proved victorious given the strength in depth the club possesses and the way the new manager has taken to life in the Premiership. As for Liverpool, unless their top two players - Torres and Gerrard - perform, which they did not, then they do not look like champion material.
Carlo Ancelotti has managed in his short tenure to build on the excellent team morale that began under Guus Hiddink and has slightly adapted the style of play without losing any of the power that has underlined Chelsea's game since the Mourinho's days.
A lacklustre display in the Champions League led the Italian to comment that 'it is important when things are not going well to gain control' and that kind of attitude ensured him so much success at AC Milan.
The game was a competitive affair but anyone expecting a repeat of the 4-4 thriller in last season's Champions League would have been disappointed. Games between these two are more often tight than open and last season's match was a one-off rather than the norm.
It had been billed as a battle between the best two strikers in the world but it was Didier Drogba who put in the class display whilst Torres was quiet due to a magnificent performance from England captain John Terry.
The first half was a tight affair with very few chances created. It was Chelsea, though, who had most possession and Ancelotti would have been confident that if they improved their 'final third' quality they could go on and win the match in the second half. And, so it proved.
After an hour Lampard fed Drogba and his perfectly timed cross found Anelka free in the box to finish into the roof of the net and score against his old side. It was the pace and the power of the Ivory Coast international that created the goal and he should take most of the credit.
In injury time this speed and strength was evident again when he brushed off Carragher and provided the pass for substitute Malouda to finish off and give Chelsea a well-deserved 2-0 victory.
This result put Chelsea two points clear at the top of the table after Manchester United's disappointing draw at home to Sunderland. More importantly though, Liverpool are six points adrift and whilst this might not seem like a lot at such an early stage Benitez knows how hard it is to make up the gap later in the season.
Ancelotti, meanwhile, can sit back and reflect proudly on his first couple of months in England. If he now manages to achieve the flair and style of play his owner so craves then he will be as popular a manager as Mourinho was at his arrogant best. He will, of course, have to deliver silverware at the end of the season.
