Chelsea achieved our 12th consecutive victory and 10th straight clean sheet at home today as we thumped Wolves 4-0 at Stamford Bridge.

In our first meeting since 2004, Chelsea proved dominant from the start as Florent Malouda and Michael Essien both found the net in the first half on a record-making day.

Joe Cole added to the scoreline with his first goal of the season following Essien's second, the first time the Ghanaian's scored more than once in a Chelsea game.

We were without the injured Michael Ballack (knee), Didier Drogba (ribs), Deco (muscle strain), Jose Bosingwa (knee) and Frank Lampard (thigh) for today's fixture.

The absences allowed youngsters Fabio Borini, Nemanja Matic and Gael Kakuta a place on the bench as the Blues fought for our 12th consecutive victory at home, beating our previous record of 11 set in 2006. All three youngsters came on, two for debuts.

John Terry's start made him our second highest appearing captain in the club's history, with 299 games surpassing Dennis Wise's 298 appearances.

Alongside him were Alex and Ashley Cole while Juliano Belletti started at right-back. Joe Cole headed up a midfield diamond, which included John Mikel Obi in a holding role.

It was Cole who began brightest in the first five minutes, attempting to slice open the defence with a through ball for Malouda before chipping over the back line in search of Salomon Kalou.

But Malouda would be the man to score first. Breaking down the centre of the pitch after Craddock failed to clear properly, the Frenchman drilled a phenomenal left-footed strike into the net from 25 yards out.

It was a perfect start for Chelsea and before the 10 minute-mark arrived Anelka and Cole had both produced further chances on goal.

Kalou then won a corner, drilling a low shot goal-ward after feeding off an Essien pass.

The subsequent Malouda ball found Essien ready and waiting in the area, from where he headed home Chelsea's second with only 12 minutes played. It was truly a dominating start to the game.

Brimming with confidence, the Blues were playing beautiful football and Essien had soon scored his second.

As Chelsea camped around Wolves' area, the Ghanaian collected from Kalou on the edge of the box and, seeing an opening in the defensive line, launched a shot.

Hennessey saw it coming but failed to grasp hold of the ball as it skimmed underneath him and into the net; it was 3-0 with over 20 minutes of the first half left to play.

Things began to calm down slightly as Wolves kept more possession and there was a scare for the Blues when Sylvan Ebanks-Blake connected head-first with a cross from the left.

The Wolves forward had been waiting about two feet in front of goal when he leapt to head downward, but an in-form Petr Cech, fresh from a two-week break from football, pulled off a fantastic save to maintain his clean sheet.

Malouda had one more chance before the half time whistle blew but the remainder of the first period was fairly uneventful compared to the first 20 minutes of football.

The second half began as the previous had finished, with most of the play taking place in midfield, although there was a flash of brilliance as Anelka picked out Malouda with an inch-perfect, across-pitch pass.

Unfortunately our number 15 couldn't convert the chance into a goal but within five minutes of the restart Chelsea were threatening once more. This time it was Alex who nearly scored as his close-range effort was denied by Hennessey.

Cole would make it four 10 minutes into the second half. After Anelka broke down the right flank and released a ball to Kalou in the box, the Ivorian pulled it back to the midfielder, who, from the edge of the box, smashed into the net.

Shortly after that, 18-year-old Gael Kakuta (pictured below) made his Chelsea debut, replacing Anelka up front, and immediately made his presence felt, dancing around the Wolves defence before launching a shot into the side netting.

Chelsea were now back to playing brilliant football as Essien sent a thunderbolt ricocheting off the bar via a one-handed half-save from the keeper. Malouda saw a freekick headed away from danger and Essien sent another shot skimming inches past the post.

After that it was time for another debut as 21-year-old Nemanja Matic made an appearance, replacing the impressive Malouda in midfield.

Cole then won a freekick as Karl Henry shoved the number 10 in the back, Mikel tapped the stationary ball to Essien who curled a shot over the defence and inches wide, it was nearly a hat-trick for the Ghanaian.

Fabio Borini then came on for Kalou and won a freekick straight away as he sprinted past Christophe Berra, forcing the defender to pull him back by his shirt (pictured below)..

Despite such inexperience in the side, Chelsea were relentless and continued to threaten the visitor's goal, with Kakuta, full of confidence, launching a screaming shot just past the post from 25 yards out.

Essien was persistent in his hunt for a hat-trick and proved troublesome for Hennessey, but both inaccuracy and Wolves' keeper would prevent the Ghanaian finding the net again.

Instead the game finished 4-0 following an emphatic display from Chelsea. It's our 1000th League win at the Bridge.

The win allows us to extend our lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League as Arsenal lost 1-0 to Sunderland, while Manchester United wait to play Everton later.

By Christian Collison

Chelsea (4-diamond-2): Cech; Belletti, Alex, Terry (c), A Cole; Mikel; Essien; Malouda (Matic 69); J Cole; Anelka (Kakuta 58), Kalou (Borini 77).
Unused subs: Hilario, Ferreira, Ivanovic, Zhirkov.

Wolverhampton Wanderers (4-5-1): Hennessey; Halford, Craddock, Berra, Stearman; Edwards, Henry (c), Surman, Castillo (Knightly 52), Jarvis; Ebanks-Blake (Keogh 621).
Unused subs: Hahnemann, Elokobi, Milijas, Foley, Maierhofer.

The full match is on Chelsea TV from 6pm on Sunday.