Chelsea’s ominously impressive start to the defence of their Premier League crown continued yesterday with another six-goal thrashing of hopelessly outclassed opponents.

After beating West Brom 6-0 in their season opener last weekend, Carlo Ancelotti’s side inflicted an identical scoreline on Wigan at the DW Stadium.

Arsenal were also in free-scoring form with Theo Walcott claiming a hat-trick in a 6-0 thrashing of top flight newcomers Blackpool, while Tottenham claimed their first win of the season with a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Stoke.

Chelsea’s win at Wigan had French foundations with Florent Malouda opening the scoring in the first half before a Nicolas Anelka double killed the contest in the space of four minutes shortly after the restart.

Salomon Kalou then claimed two late goals – both made by man-of-the-match Didier Drogba – before fellow substitute Yossi Benayoun wrapped things up in the 90th minute.

After the euphoria of their own 4-0 opening day win over Wigan, Ian Holloway’s Blackpool endured a reality check at the Emirates after being reduced to ten men midway through the first half.

By then, Walcott had already given Arsenal the lead and Andrei Arshavin made it two with a 32nd-minute penalty after Ian Evatt was ordered off for bringing down Marouane Chamakh with a challenge from behind.

Walcott claimed his second six minutes from the break then completed his hat-trick just before the hour mark, after a strike by Abou Diaby, and Chamakh rounded things off with his first Arsenal goal, seven minutes from time.

“I’m relieved it wasn’t 10 or 12,” Holloway admitted.

Tottenham had to survive intense late pressure to take the points at Stoke, who felt the ball had crossed the line for what would have been a late equaliser.

Gareth Bale’s opener for the visitors, a fortunate rebound off his face that he knew little about, was cancelled out by Stoke’s Jamaica striker Ricardo Fuller on 25 minutes.

But Wales international Bale restored Spurs’ advantage five minutes later with a stunning left-foot volley that ultimately was enough for Harry Redknapp’s men, despite the controversy at the death.

“We had three or four players celebrating and they don’t do that unless they think it was a goal,” said rueful Stoke boss Tony Pulis.

A scrappy encounter between Birmingham and Blackburn burst into life after the interval in the wake of a stunning penalty save by Birmingham goalkeeper Ben Foster, who tipped Morten Gamst Pedersen’s spotkick on to the woodwork.

Steven Nzonzi headed Blackburn into the lead shortly afterwards but Birmingham bounced back to win 2-1 thanks to a Craig Gardner double.

Tim Cahill opened Everton’s goal account for the season and gave them a half-time lead over Wolves at Goodison Park.

But the Australian midfielder’s left-footed effort was cancelled out by Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, who converted a Kevin Doyle cross with a quarter of an hour left.

Nigerian forward Peter Odemwingie marked his debut for West Brom with the only goal in a 1-0 win over Sunderland. The striker, signed this week from Lokomotiv Moscow, was teed up by Chris Brunt and, with nine minutes left to play, took his chance with a cool finish.

West Ham remain pointless after squandering a chance to take the lead against Bolton when Carlton Cole had a tame first-half penalty saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Avram Grant’s side were made to pay for that miss as a Matthew Upson own goal and a header from Swedish striker Johan Elmander gave the visitors control of the match.

A Mark Noble penalty put the Hammers back in it but Elmander made sure of the points for Bolton with his second of the afternoon, six minutes from time.

Next Fixtures

Playing today:
14.30 Newcastle vs Aston Villa.
17.00 Fulham-Man. United.

Tomorrow: 21.00 Man. City vs Liverpool.

Tuesday: League Cup, second round.

Wednesday: League Cup, second round.

Saturday:
Premier League
13.45 Blackburn vs Arsenal.
16.00 Blackpool vs Fulham; Chelsea vs Stoke; Tottenham Hotspur vs Wigan Athletic; Wolves vs Newcastle United.
18.30 Manchester United vs West Ham United.

Sunday, August 29:
Premier League
2.30 p.m. Bolton vs Birmingham City.
16.00 Aston Villa vs Everton; Liverpool vs West Brom Albion; Sunderland vs Manchester City.