Chelsea leapfrogged Manchester City to third place in Premier League standings after a deserving win over the archrivals 2-0 on Sunday.

Chelsea were much livelier at the Stamford Bridge with Fernando Torres and Salomon Kalou starting the forward lineup. The duo made several good interchanges with French midfielder Florent Malouda, but the City defense stood strong.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti replaced Torres and Malouda with seasoned Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka after 70 minutes, leaving the Spaniard Torres having no chance to celebrate his 27- year-old birthday with a maiden goal for Chelsea.

Drogba, 33, showed his importance eight minutes after stepping onto the pitch as the Ivorian striker crossed a freekick into the box, seeing Brazilian defender David Luiz beat City goalkeeper Joe Hart with a powerful header.

City failed to threaten the hosts although manager Roberto Mancini dispatched forward Mario Balotelli and midfielder Adam Johnson in closing stages while Chelsea pushed themselves forward further with Brazilian midfielder Ramires's individual effort two minutes into stoppage time.

Earlier, Liverpool ended their visit to Sunderland with a 2-0 victory as Dirk Kuyt completed a first-half penalty before Luis Suarez doubled the lead with a tight angle goal in the 77th minute.