FOOTBALL has never been more important than family for Carlo Ancelotti who, even as a star player for AC Milan and Italy, would spend holidays back in his village near Parma, helping on the farm of his father, Giuseppe.

Chelsea’s best performance and biggest victory of his tenure were a diversion and he was subdued after the game. Giuseppe, 86, is recovering from major surgery and Ancelotti is flying back to his own country today to be with him. He was at Giuseppe’s bedside on Friday and only returned to London for this match. “I think my father was better today,” said Ancelotti. “This is life.”

Chelsea did all they could to soothe their manager, brutalising Blackburn, and Paul Robinson in particular, with their fluent, powerful and penetrative football. If all their games were at Stamford Bridge, Ancelotti’s side would be certainties for the Premier League. After Burnley’s loss to Wigan, they have the only perfect home record in the competition and have now scored 21 times at their stadium this season, conceding just once. Away, where they have lost recently to Wigan and Aston Villa, it is different. Though this win took them back to the top, they will be displaced should Manchester United win today’s northwest derby. “I’ll watch it,” said Ancelotti. “For one day I can be a fan of Liverpool.”

Despite his troubles, Ancelotti drew on his considerable reserves of warmth to reward Joe Cole with a giant smile and hearty hug when he substituted the attacker with minutes remaining. Starting a Premier League game for the first time in 10 months because of a serious knee injury, Cole emerged unscathed and, though he did not take part in the goals festival, he displayed neat touches and linked expertly with Frank Lampard, who netted twice.

“After so long out it’s not easy to play the way he did today. He is a genius,” said Ancelotti.

Cole’s return is good for England too, and timely, with Fabio Capello keen to reintroduce the player to his side in next month’s friendly against Brazil. The attacker was almost back with an immediate bang. After 29 seconds Lampard bore down the left, cut back onto his right foot and clipped the ball into the area, where Cole was arriving untracked. A large swathe of goal lay unprotected but he glanced his header wide.

A lovely first-time flick with his heel that nearly sent Nicolas Anelka clear, however, soon reaffirmed Cole’s quality.

Anelka owes much to Sam Allardyce for rehabilitating him in English football but showed little gratitude. In Chelsea’s winger-less system, much onus is on him to peel to the left to provide width. Anelka befuddled Blackburn and stretched them to create the first goal. From a switch of play, he made ground to the touchline and centred low. Gael Givet, pressured by Didier Drogba, turned the ball into his own net.

At half-time, though his side’s final ball was poor, Allardyce was pleased with his defence. “We’d only lost out to an own goal and they were restricted to shooting from distance,” he said. “But our tactics went out of the window and I’m bitterly disappointed with the players’ lack of understanding of their instructions. In the second half we were pathetic.”

Ancelotti’s take was: “Chelsea played very well and it’s not very easy to play against Chelsea when we put such great quality on the pitch, Blackburn did what they could”, and the truth was somewhere in between. Michael Ballack in particular would have been difficult for most midfields to live with. One 70-yard pass, from the right-back position to Juliano Belletti on the right wing, was a delight.

Just before half-time, Robinson distinguished himself with three saves, from a dipping long-range Drogba shot, a close-range header by the same player and a powerful John Terry volley. But the second period proved traumatic for the former England No 1. It was seconds old when Michael Essien played Drogba to the touchline and the Ivorian cut the ball back for Lampard to stroke it home. Robinson was blameless then but not soon after when Essien exposed a dreadful piece of positioning by scoring from 30 yards with a shot that seemed straightforward. Lampard then beat Robinson again, this time with a penalty when Alan Wiley punished Keith Andrews for fouling Drogba.

Drogba scored Chelsea’s fifth, Robinson rooted as the striker nodded in a Ballack corner. Terry cleared off his line to ensure there would be no consolation for Blackburn, who lost David Dunn and Chris Samba to a virus. “Several players played with it, we prepared for the match on paracetomol,” said Allardyce.

Before his humiliation, Blackburn fans honoured Robinson with chants of “England’s No 1” but on this form that status belongs to Chelsea.

Star man: Frank Lampard (Chelsea)

Yellow card: Blackburn: Pedersen.

Referee: A Wiley. Attendance: 40,836.

CHELSEA: Cech, Ivanovic, Carvalho (Bruma 67min), Terry, Belletti (Ferreira 61min), Essien, Ballack, Lampard, J Cole (Sturridge 77min), Anelka, Drogba.

BLACKBURN: Robinson, Jacobsen (Salgado 60min), Olsson, Nelsen, Givet, Andrews, Nzonzi, Pedersen (Hoilett 69min), Emerton, Diouf, Roberts (Kalinic 53min).

Lampard finds his touch

If Chelsea are to win the Premier League this season then Frank Lampard rediscovering his goalscoring form is crucial. The England midfielder’s goal against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday was his first in 11 games, while his two against Blackburn last night were the first for him in the league since scoring a penalty against Sunderland in August. Before last night’s excellent display Lampard, inset, had scored more times for England this season — three in five internationals — than he had in 13 league and cup games for Chelsea.

It had been Lampard’s most barren run in the league for Chelsea since 2004-05, when he did not hit his second league goal until the 11th match. A good omen for Chelsea fans is that he went on to score 13 Premier League goals that season, still his second-best tally, and Chelsea won their first title in 50 years. His best scoring season in the league was the following year when he hit 16 as Jose Mourinho’s side retained their crown.

Lampard has gone into double figures in the league for the past six seasons, in contrast to his days at West Ham, where he never scored more than seven in a season. Even his first two campaigns at Stamford Bridge after his £11m move across London brought just five and six goals respectively. Last night’s double, his third against Blackburn, made it eight goals in 16 games against the Lancashire side.