A Diego Costa goal ensured Chelsea went back to the top of the Premier League following a 1-0 win against Middlesbrough.
The Blues are now one point in front of Liverpool and Man City, but it was certainly not an easy three points to earn despite their attacking display.
Boro kept searching for an equaliser right until the referee signalled the end of the game where the visitors' defence proved too tough to penetrate.
In the first half, Victor Valdes produced a tremendous save to deny Pedro a goal following some neat build-up play from Victor Moses and player of the month Eden Hazard, but continued pressure from Chelsea towards the end of the half eventually paid off thanks to Costa’s quick thinking.
The striker was first to react when a Hazard corner was not dealt with, allowing him to prod home from four-yards out, five minutes before half-time. It was his seventh goal in his last seven Premier League away games.
And seconds after the restart Chelsea almost had another goal, but Valdes was alert once to this time stop Marcos Alonso, while Calum Chambers cleared the danger with Pedro closing on for the rebound. The Spanish forward suffered a frustrating afternoon in front of goal and hit the bar later on.
Boro didn’t sit back, though. Aitor Karanka’s side had the full support of the Riverside faithful and pressed forward with their own attacks, but whenever the likes of Adama Traore made it to the Chelsea area, they found a solid blue wall in front of them.
Alvaro Negredo had a great chance to level the score, but Thibaut Courtois was able to save and maintain a run of six clean sheets.