London, August 27:

Defending champion Chelsea stayed perfect in the Premier League, defeating Tottenham 2-0 on Saturday for the Blues’ fourth straight victory — all by shutouts — on goals by Asier del Horno and Damien Duff. Chelsea was helped when Tottenham’s Egyptian striker Ahmed

“Mido” Hossam was sent off in the 25th minute for appearing to throw an elbow at Del Horno.

The Spaniard answered 14 minutes later, scoring on a header, his first goal for Chelsea. Duff scored in the 71st minute, finding the net despite miss-hitting the shot. In winning the league last season, Chelsea gave up only 15 goals in 38 games while scoring 72. This season, the league leader has yet to yield a goal and has scored eight.

In Saturday’s other games: Aston Villa 1, Blackburn 0; Fulham 1, Everton 0; Manchester City 2, Portsmouth 1; West Bromwich 2, Birmingham 3; West Ham 1, Bolton 2; Wigan 1, Sunderland 0. Two games on Sunday are: Middlesbrough vs Charlton and Newcastle vs Manchester United. Arsenal and Liverpool did not play. Cheslea leads the table with 12 points followed by Manchester City with 10. Bolton and Tottenham have seven each.