Chelsea 2-0 Swansea

Chelsea kept up the hunt for Champions League qualification with victory over Swansea City on Sunday.

Oscar opened the scoring with a low cross-shot after being picked out by substitute Frank Lampard.

Lampard then struck his 201st Chelsea goal, one off the club record, from the penalty spot after Juan Mata was sent tumbling by Leon Britton.

Swansea had little to show for their afternoon, although Angel Rangel's shot did need a smart save from Petr Cech.

Much of the pre-match talk had surrounded referee Mark Clattenburg, making his first return to Stamford Bridge since being embroiled in a racism row involving Chelsea players John Mikel Obi and Ramires last October.

The official was subsequently cleared by the Football Association and Chelsea had promised that Clattenburg was welcome back in west London, with pre-match niceties impeccably observed.

Of more pressing concern to Blues manager Rafael Benitez was securing a Champions League place.

Chelsea's win took them back into third but the Blues are in a tight battle with Arsenal and Tottenham for two qualification places, while Everton are also still in contention.

Chelsea will qualify for Europe if they win the Europa League - and they have a one-goal advantage after a 2-1 semi-final first-leg win at Basel - but the push in the league for a more coveted Champions League place must continue, especially with Manchester United and Spurs their next opponents.

Also on the line was gaining a measure of revenge on Swansea, who Chelsea had not beaten in three previous meetings this season.

Gary Cahill returned in defence for Chelsea after a six-week lay-off and the home side's midfield bossed the early proceedings, with Mata impressing.

The first effort on goal came from Eden Hazard as he stung the hands of Michel Vorm from distance.

The Swansea goalkeeper was again called into action when he pushed away a left-footed drive from Demba Ba, cup-tied in Europe but back in place of Fernando Torres.

But the Swans, looking to end a run of five matches without a win, responded well and it needed an acrobatic intervention from Ashley Cole to prevent Michu nodding Wayne Routledge's cross into the net.

Chelsea lost Ramires to injury after 24 minutes but replacement Lampard soon brought another diving save from Vorm and Hazard headed over from the subsequent corner.

But Chelsea made the pressure count with two goals in quick succession just before half-time.

First Oscar controlled Lampard's toe-poked pass before sending the ball fizzing low across Vorm into the far corner.

Then Britton clumsily clipped Mata from behind to concede a penalty and Lampard scored his 201st Chelsea goal. That took the 34-year-old one behind Bobby Tambling's club record and equalled Andy Cole's mark of scoring against 38 different teams in the Premier League.

Tambling, who played for Chelsea from 1958-70, was present and the former England forward was welcomed onto the pitch at half-time to a standing ovation.

Cech had largely been a spectator in the Chelsea goal but was down smartly to push the ball round the post as Rangel shot from an acute angle. Swansea were at least heartened by the sight of Neil Taylor coming off the bench for the final 10 minutes, his first taste of action since breaking his ankle in September.

Vorm remained the busier goalkeeper and did well to keep out Ba, while Mata sent the ball just wide of the far post twice.

Another goal for Lampard to equal the record would have capped the afternoon for Chelsea, but they will settle for three points and refocus on what are likely to be sterner tests in the coming weeks.

Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez:

"We played good football, we had enough chances to score the third. The idea was to score an early goal, we didn't manage that, but we did eventually score and then pushed for the second and got that before half-time.

"Frank Lampard is a great player. I'm really pleased he's scored another goal and hopefully he can score five between now and the end of the season and he'll be much happier and we will be the same.

"He's a great professional, he's always really focused. He would like to play more games, but he understands the main thing is the team and to qualify for the Champions League."

Swansea manager Michael Laudrup:

"I didn't think we suffered for the first 40 minutes. Five crazy minutes, two goals, changed the game completely.

"We've not had a very poor game since the cup. We've had moments where we've not played well, but even today, you can't say we played poorly after 60 minutes.

"We just had those crazy five minutes."