Two goals from England winger Shaun Wright-Phillips and additional strikes from Salomon Kalou and Didier Drogba condemned West Ham to their ninth home defeat of the season and moved Chelsea to within three points of leaders Manchester United once again.

West Ham are now five points adrift of safety with four games left to play and relegation is a virtual certainty unless they can somehow contrive the necessary results against Everton, Wigan, Bolton and Manchester United in their remaining fixtures.

Carlos Tevez had given the Hammers some hope when he cancelled out Wright-Phillips’ opener but the parity lasted less than a minute before the Chelsea winger scored his second.

Kalou then made it 3-1 six minutes after the break before Drogba claimed his 31st goal of the season to increase Chelsea’s unbeaten run to 20 games, 17 wins and three draws since their defeat at Liverpool.

The home side had started brightly enough and Tevez twice caused panic in the Chelsea defence with crosses from the right flank.

West Ham had a narrow escape in the 11th minute when Robert Green twice denied the champions with saves from Kalou and Drogba.

But the home side caused the visitors plenty of problems during a prolonged spell of possession and their endeavours were almost rewarded when Mikel John Obi failed to control the ball and Tevez ran menacingly at the retreating Blues defence.

The striker’s cross-shot appeared capable of dropping into the net but to avoid any potential embarrassment, Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech tipped the ball to safety.

But on the half-hour Chelsea went in front thanks to a stunning goal from Wright-Phillips.

The impish winger turned and jinked his way past the West Ham defence before sending a left-foot shot into the bottom corner beyond the despairing frame of Green.

It was a goal completely against the run of play but was another fine example of Chelsea’s unerring ability to maximise their opportunities.

West Ham were level just four minutes later when Tevez beat Cech with a sensational 25-yard drive after cutting in from the left flank. It was the first goal Chelsea had conceded in the Premiership for 13 hours and 49 minutes.

But they were not on level terms for long, as Wright-Phillips restored Chelsea’s lead with his second goal of the game within a minute of the restart.

Wayne Bridge was allowed to advance down the left flank and when he delivered his cross, Wright-Phillips volleyed the ball beyond Green.

Even then West Ham could have equalised within minutes but Collins sent a header straight at Cech when he rose unmarked to meet a cross from Jonathan Spector.

West Ham squandered a clear chance to level the scores for the second time moments after the re-start but Bobby Zamora failed to beat Cech when a cross from Collins had found its way to him at the far post.

His miss was compounded moments later when Lampard was hacked down by Reo-Coker.

Lampard sent the free-kick into the penalty area and when Drogba’s shot was saved on the line by Green, Kalou was the first to react to put Chelsea 3-1 in front in the 51st minute.

But Chelsea’s celebrations were soured by a booking for Drogba who, somewhat unwisely, taunted the home fans in the corner.

Moments later the Ivorian almost had the last laugh when he got clear of the home defence but this time Green managed to turn his shot around the post.

In the 57th minute, Drogba put Kalou clear with a perfectly volleyed pass and then ran on into the penalty area to receive the return pass.

However, Drogba just failed to add to his season’s tally by driving his shot just beyond Green’s right-hand upright.

West Ham were now leaving cavernous gaps at the back and Chelsea were keen to exploit the space. So much so that it resulted in their fourth of the season and Drogba’s 31st of the campaign in the 62nd minute.

Drogba collected Lampard’s lofted pass and beat Neill before slipping the ball through the legs of the stricken Green to leave West Ham requiring a minor miracle to escape the drop.