PA PhotosJuan Mata fires in the equaliser en route to a 4-2 win for Chelsea

Got your breath back yet? Chelsea's impressive 4-2 win at Tottenham was the epitome of a pulsating London derby. A liberal sprinkling of goals laced with wonderful football, a few errors, and not a single bad challenge or confrontation. As adverts for the Premier League go, that was about as good as you can get.

The tides turned on several occasions during the 90 minutes, but ultimately it was the verve and incision of Juan Mata, Oscar and Eden Hazard that decided the match. Mata was the pick of the bunch with two goals and a cool assist for Daniel Sturridge's goal that ensured the points returned to Stamford Bridge. He probably should have had a hat trick, but he spurned an excellent sidefooted chance in the first half and failed to lob Brad Friedel in the second half, albeit from a tight angle. But it was his all round contribution that caught the eye, above and beyond his strikes. Mata's use of the ball was exquisite, and his exquisite balance enabled him to change the angle of attack with a dropped shoulder or a slippery backheel.

- James Martin: Focus back on pitch

Mata's job was made all the easier by the superb movement of Oscar, Hazard and Fernando Torres as well as Ashley Cole and Branislav Ivanovic. The fluidity continually created yawning gaps between Tottenham's central defenders and their fullbacks with Kyle Walker given a particularly torrid time. The space was ruthlessly exploited, and the slight profligacy in front of goal - especially in the closing stages - was offset by the sheer volume of opportunities carved out by the men in Blue.

It takes two to make a great game, though, and the spirit Tottenham showed immediately after the break has to be commended. They managed to turn the momentum completely in their favour having been dominated in the first 45 minutes, and Chelsea and their fans should be thankful for the predicament that Spurs put them in.

Comprehensive victories such as the 4-1 win over Norwich are always enjoyable, but they don't always tell you too much about the character of the team. Seeing a lead flipped into a deficit in a matter of minutes laid down the gauntlet to a young Chelsea side, and they responded with flying colours. Oscar and Hazard did not use the excuse of youth to go into their shell but instead raised their level even further to wrest control back from the home side, showing total disregard to the hostile atmosphere. To shrug off a setback and continue to believe in yourself is a vital component of any successful team, and that trait was in abundance throughout the eleven on the field.

More thanks have to be given to Tottenham, though not least to Miss Emma Rhys-Jones, the girlfriend of a certain Gareth Bale, who went into labour shortly before kickoff and stripped Spurs of their greatest asset. Chelsea should also doff their cap to former defender and public enemy No. 1 William Gallas. The Frenchman may have netted the equaliser, but poor clearances enabled Gary Cahill and Mata to find the back of the net.

Had Chelsea not turned the game around the finger might well have been pointed at David Luiz, who had one of his more impetuous games. Always keen to win the ball and play the beautiful game, the Brazilian twice lost possession while stranded upfield in the first half, putting the team under pressure, and he was cumbersome in conceding the free kick from which Tottenham scored straight after the break. As it was, his indiscretions proved meaningless and, to give him his due, when he was purely defending his area, he barely put a foot wrong.

Chelsea have two very tough games to come in the next eight days, away at Shakhtar Donetsk and then at home to Manchester United but they could not be going into those fixtures in finer fettle. Defensively sound, offensively devastating, the Blues are coming dangerously close to being the team Roman Abramovich envisaged when he bought the club in 2003. There is still a long way to go, but victory in the next two matches will have pundits hastily re-evaluating their preseason predictions.

Follow Phil Lythell on Twitter @PhilLythell

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