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LONDON (AP) - Michael Essien grabbed the winner as Chelsea defeated Birmingham 3-2 on Sunday to set an English record for unbeaten league matches at home.
Jose Mourinho's men were given a scare when Mikael Forssell opened the scoring and Olivier Kapo levelled before the break, but Essien's second-half strike into the top corner meant Chelsea had gone 64 league games undefeated at Stamford Bridge.
This puts the west London club one match ahead of Liverpool's run at Anfield from 1978-81, although Mourinho insisted before the game that anything less than a win would not be worth celebrating.
Mourinho's record is even more impressive. He has gone 99 home league games without a defeat, his last being a 3-2 reverse to Beira Mar while at Porto in 2002.
In the end, there was plenty for the Chelsea boss to celebrate. Aside from the record, new signings Claudio Pizarro and Florent Malouda found the net in the first half.
"I think it was a good game, not just because Chelsea played well but because Birmingham did as well," Mourinho said. "Teams who have come up from the Championship have a champion mentality.
"We had so many chances to kill off the game. It would have been more enjoyable for me to see if we had been winning 4-2 or 5-2."
Chelsea were given an early warning that setting their record would not be a simple task.
An early shot from Forssell, held by Petr Cech at the second attempt, suggested he was in no mood to be charitable to his former club. Birmingham's opener came from the Finn after Gary McSheffrey?s free-kick was flicked on by Liam Ridgewell. There was no time for Forssell to react but his instinctive header wrong-footed Cech.
Shaun Wright-Phillips and Malouda were given license to cut inside from the flanks, and the England winger?s low pull-back was met crisply by Peru striker Pizarro for Chelsea?s first goal, although goalkeeper Colin Doyle should have kept the effort out.
Chelsea edged ahead on the half-hour when Frank Lampard?s flick found Salomon Kalou who scooped the ball through for Malouda to sidefoot home.
However, Chelsea were stunned in the 36th minute when Kapo drifted in from the left, bundled past Glen Johnson and unleashed an unstoppable left-foot drive into the top corner. "We're going to win the league," roared the travelling support.
The entertainment did not stop after the break, Wright-Phillips driving fiercely into the side-netting before finding Essien on the edge of the area. The Ghanaian midfielder found the top corner, but Doyle got a hand to his curling effort and again might have done better.
Didier Drogba came on for the closing 27 minutes after missing the Community Shield last weekend through injury, and almost caught Doyle off his line with a volley from the halfway line that drifted just wide. But the Ivory Coast striker finished the game with his head bandaged following a clash.
Afterwards, Birmingham boss Steve Bruce said: "I think we gave them a game. I?m disappointed because the goals we gave away were a bit soft but we pushed them hard.
"Not many teams come here and score two goals. We were brave and that's the way we'll have to be. We showed that we?re capable of making a real fist of playing in the Premier League."
