SURPRISE package Sunderland finally beat a 44-year jinx at Stamford Bridge as they kick-started their Euro-drive with a first double of the season.

But even the most optimistic Wearside fan could have expected Peter Reid's men to put four goals past a star-studded Chelsea side which had not lost at home for six months.

The shock defeat left Blues boss Claudio Ranieri fuming - but he saluted Sunderland's indisputable fighting spirit, a quality which could prove invaluable in the continuing battle for European qualification.

Sunderland, twice behind, astonished the home fans with a thrilling fight-back which ended a sorry run of six Premiership games without a win.

Ranieri said: "All the Sunderland players performed with great determination and they played very well today. But it was very disappointing the way we gifted them four goals."

Sunderland, after a bright start in which they rocked Chelsea back on their heels with four corners in the opening ten minutes, looked as though they would again fall to the Chelsea sword.

Yet even though Chelsea had big guns in their armoury - notably 18-goal Dutch international Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink - there was a suggestion of inefficiency about their firepower.

Hasselbaink should have inflicted the first wound in the eighth minute when he beat offside appeals, but instead of shooting past the advancing Sunderland goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen he chose to pass to the supporting Jesper Gronkjaer, and the flag went up as he drove the ball home.

Hasselbaink made amends - and thought he has initiated a Chelsea landslide - in the 14th minute when he engineered a short corner for French international defender Marcel Desailly to head home from close range.

And even when 'man of the match' Don Hutchison equalised with a fortuitous goal in the 28th minute as the usually super-effective Frank Leboeuf was found wanting in the six-yard box, Chelsea still held the upper hand.

Sunderland's latest recruit, French full-back Patrice Carteron was lucky to get away with a handling offence in the penalty area in the 31st minute and Eidur Gudjohnsen's control let him down badly close to goal.

But the Icelander made up for the miss with a much better finish in the 38th minute, powering a left foot shot in off the underside of the bar.

It was a goal which might have opened the floodgates, but Chelsea were made to pay dearly for a crucial 39th minute miss as Gudjohnsen failed miserably to control the ball on the edge of the six-yard box.

But they could hardly have expected Sunderland's astonishing match-winning response after the break, though the Wearsiders had to thank atrocious defensive errors for their victory.

Goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini was badly at fault in the 51st minute when he failed to do anything about a right-wing centre which Hutchison gratefully headed home.

It was a goal which gave Sunderland a huge lift, and while their approach work might not have matched the silky skills of Chelsea's Foreign Legion, their appetite for goals proved crucial

A blunder on the edge of the box by former England full-back Graeme Le Saux provided a chance for the eager Gavin McCann, and the new England man ruthlessly tucked away a low, left-foot shot on the hour, despite a desperate challenge from the polished Desailly.

As expected Chelsea, utilising the vision and control of substitute Gustavo Poyet, reacted furiously, but still there was no end product and Sorensen was well protected by a hard-working defence in which Emerson Thome, playing against his old club, and Jody Craddock were outstanding.

Sunderland had the smell of blood in their nostrils, however, and as the Londoners pushed forward in greater desperation they put themselves in danger of being caught by a quick counter-attack.

And so it proved with devastating consequences in the 78th minute.

Cudicini made an awful mess of a simple back-pass, knocking it straight to McCann, whose shot was already goal-bound as Phillips delivered his 15th goal of the season