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LONDON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Chelsea gave their new Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari the perfect start on Sunday with a stunning 4-0 victory over Portsmouth in their opening Premier League match at Stamford Bridge.
It took Chelsea just 12 minutes to take the lead on a gloriously sunny day in west London when Joe Cole fired past his England goalkeeping colleague David James after being set up by Michael Ballack.
Nicolas Anelka took advantage of slack Portsmouth defending to head them 2-0 ahead in the 26th minute and Frank Lampard made it 3-0 from the penalty spot just before halftime after Sylvain Distin handled a cross from Cole.
Deco capped an excellent debut when he powered home an 89th minute strike from 25-metres which James could only help into the net.
The FA Cup winners, who had not won at Stamford Bridge for 53 years, came more into the game in the second half but rarely threatened to salvage anything from a match the home side totally dominated.
Champions Manchester United were opening their campaign later on Sunday against Newcastle United at Old Trafford.
Six matches were played on Saturday with Arsenal and Liverpool, who are expected to challenge for the title along with United and Chelsea, among the winners. Arsenal beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium while Liverpool won 1-0 at Sunderland.
