It’s always nice to put four past Tottenham, even if the novelty is wearing a little thin, and while top gear is hopefully still to be found plus the defence may need a little tightening, there was a lot to smile about today at Stamford Bridge - both in the old and the new.

The new continues to be the scintillating form of Adrian Mutu who was this afternoon was simply unstoppable, adding two more to his season’s total, while the old comes in the shape of a team line-up that augurs well for Chelsea’s strength of squad as the season progresses

Had you spent the summer locked in a dark cupboard, you could have been forgiven for thinking transfer activity had only been moderate at the Bridge. Nine of the eleven starters today graced many a team last season with just Mutu and Damien Duff as new faces.

The returning players repaid Ranieri’s faith in them with a refreshed Celestine Babayaro and an enthusiastic Emmanuel Petit particularly catching the eye Which was more than can be said for the opening stages of the game.

Redknapp almost recreated the bad start against Blackburn when he tested Cudicini in the opening minute. That was with a long range effort but the 23 minutes that followed were nothing to write home (or even here) about as the game ebbed and flowed either side of the halfway line, punctuated by too many free-kicks.

Then came the kick-start that was desperately needed, even if the manner was not to Chelsea’s liking.

Anderton, after an interchange with Carr, hit a low trajectory cross towards the far post where Kanouté beat Melchiot to the ball. As it fell, the Spurs man was first to it again, allowing him to roll it past the advancing Cudicini.

A sunny Stamford Bridge went rather quiet. Could it really be happening? Could this finally be the day Spurs produced the goods here? Could it hell!

It took Chelsea nine minutes to compose ourselves and then the goal flow began.

The formation switched to mirror Spurs’ 3-5-2 with Duff moving into the middle and Baba and Gronkjaer occupying the wing-back roles and the Dane was instrumental in the equaliser

Picking up the ball on the right, he teased Taricco before drilling an excellent left-footed cross to the far post where Frank Lampard, just a couple of yards out, nodded the ball down and inside the post for his first Chelsea headed goal.

The second, two minutes later, was a master class in measured attacking play. Hasselbaink chested a long ball into the path of Duff who ran at the heart of the Spurs back-three.

As Mutu timed his run on the outside of Ledley King to perfection, Duff hit his pass inside the twisting defender with equal precision and after a slight stumble, our new star striker prodded past Keller to maintain his record of a goal in every game for club or country this season.

A third before the break almost came. Duff struck five yards over and then when Desailly challenged Keller in the air, Terry knocked the falling ball back to Lampard whose shot was scrambled away desperately by the Spurs keeper.

Just after the re-start came the inevitable booking for Taricco – it was just a surprise it had taken so long! This time it was nasty lunge on Gronkjaer that drew punishment.

Damien Duff was first to make a second-half impact with the upper part of his boot rather than the studs. First he hit a piledriver that swerved off target and then he embarked on a sensational 50 yard run through the middle of the Tottenham team before releasing Mutu again. The near-post shot that followed was beaten away by the increasingly worked Keller.

A spate of substitutions saw a French international switch as Claude Makelele made his debut in place of Petit, followed by Konchesky for Taricco, William Gallas for Gronkjaer and Joe Cole for Duff.

When Chelsea’s third came with quarter-of-an-hour to go, two of the new arrivals were prominent. Ranieri’s new watch battery powered his first Chelsea move as Cole was released by Makelele and after a run through the middle, Cole spotted Mutu who had completely evaded the attention of the Spurs rearguard.

The razor-sharp Romanian picked the ball up in acres of space and cool as you like, slotted it inside the far post. It’s safe to say we have a new crowd favourite here!

A hat-trick would have been a fitting reward and the chance came when Cole’s shot rebounded off Keller into Mutu’s path but for once the shooting was wayward.

And wayward would be an appropriate word to describe the rare aberration that befell the Chelsea defence with five minutes of normal time remaining.

A long throw caused undue chaos around the six yard box and when Zamora was allowed to swivel and shoot, the ball cannoned back off the post into the vicinity of Kanouté who slammed it in for his second.

Once again the Spurs strike had come as a shock. The odd thrust from substitute Dalmat apart, a second-half threat from the visitors had been simply non-existent and even if Chelsea had have survived a nervous last few minutes unscathed, 3-2 would not have reflected the difference in quality.

A score of 4-2 did however. With one minute of injury time played, Cole continued his influential cameo by poking the ball down the line to the lively Babayaro who picked out Hasselbaink perfectly to complete the afternoon’s task. Twenty-seven League games unbeaten against Tottenham.

M-O-T-M=Adrian Mutu Again !!!!