Chelsea 0 Sunderland 3: Chelsea trawl through the ruins as Black Cats pounce

It was Chelsea's first home defeat since March and their first at the hands of Sunderland since 2001.

The visitors stunned Carlo Ancelotti's side on the stroke of half-time when Onuoha dribbled his way through the home defence to score.

Gyan added the second just after half-time and Welbeck seized on a poor backpass by Ashley Cole in the 87th minute to hand Chelsea their second defeat in three games.

Afterwards, Sunderland boss Steve Bruce was full of praise for his players for producing a result which ranks among the best of the season.

"It's not often you beat this lot 3-0 in their backyard," said Bruce. "It won't happen very often again. We really took it to them.

"The players have been fantastic over the last two weeks and I'm very proud of the performance.

"People are so frightened coming here and no one wants to get humiliated, so we thought we'd give it a go.

"But you still need the players to perform, like Welbeck, at 19, who was terrific.

"All round, they all produced a fantastic performance. I hope people talk about Sunderland rather than Chelsea's poor performance. It's not a fluke."

Bruce's side have produced an astonishing turnaround since they lost 5-1 to neighbours Newcastle United a couple of weeks ago.

"I'll never get rid of it totally," added Bruce. "It's there on the CV. You're looking to try and respond and thankfully the players have done. They've rolled up their sleeves and turned it round."

Chelsea went into the game hoping to stretch their lead at the top of the table to five points but they never looked like winning. The Wearsiders made a solid start and warned Chelsea inside the opening few minutes when Lee Cattermole cleverly intercepted an intended pass from Branislav Ivanovic and played the ball out to Gyan on the left, who sent his shot just wide of the far post.

Chelsea beat Sunderland 7-2 last season but their new defensive partnership of Paulo Ferriera and Ivanovic – forced upon them by injuries to captain John Terry and Alex – struggled to cope with Gyan and Welbeck.

In the 18th minute Chelsea managed to fashion their first real chance when John Mikel Obi put Nicolas Anelka in the clear but the opportunity went begging.

Moments later Florent Malouda created an opening for Yury Zhirkov but the Russia international ended his twisting run into the area with a shot that flashed past the far post.

Chelsea midfielder Ramires sent an 18-yard header towards the top corner in the 24th minute but Craig Gordon was able to make the save.

Sunderland defender Michael Turner was booked by referee Chris Foy after he brought down Didier Drogba on the edge of the penalty area in the 28th minute.

The Ivory Coast striker sent a rising free-kick just over the top of the crossbar but Chelsea earned a corner as his effort took a deflection. His next effort, from 35 yards after Cattermole had brought him down, went straight into the hands of Gordon.

But Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech kept the scores level in the 36th minute when Onuoha crossed for Welbeck to head the ball towards the bottom corner, but the Czech stopper turned the ball around the post.

Cech was the saviour again in the 38th minute when Gyan put Welbeck through but Cech saved with his feet. But after he made another superb double save, Onuoha dribbled through the Chelsea defence to put Sunderland in front. It was the first goal Chelsea had conceded at Stamford Bridge since they hosted Aston Villa in March. Chelsea's afternoon got worse in the 52nd minute when Sunderland opened up their defence once more and Gyan added the second.

Jordan Henderson collected the ball from Welbeck and put Gyan clear, and the Sunderland striker made no mistake as he slipped the ball beyond Cech.

Chelsea were now rocking and unable to cope with Sunderland's quick passing and movement.

In the 59th minute Welbeck sent a curling effort just wide of the far post as the visitors threatened to add to their lead.

Chelsea had been restricted to a couple of long shots from Drogba and the boos rang out from the home fans when Malouda was replaced by Salomon Kalou.

The home side had rarely threatened in the second-half and Bolo Zenden almost made it three for the visitors when he tried to divert the ball past Cech from close range in the 63rd minute.

Chelsea huffed and puffed in a bid to get themselves back into the game but Anelka was just over with an 18-yard shot in the 86th minute.

And Sunderland made it three in the 87th minute when Chelsea defender Cole's poor back pass was intercepted by Welbeck and the striker kept his cool to beat Cech.

A disappointed Ancellotti said he will force his players to watch a video nasty of their Sunderland horror when they return from international duty.

"I think this was the worst performance since I've been here," he said.

"All the things were wrong. We didn't play how we wanted to, Sunderland showed fantastic spirit and played better."