They say perfection is a flame that many touch but few can hold. If so, Chelsea are showing every indication of possessing sufficient ruthless consistency to achieve it this season, with the latest, fairly compelling, evidence arriving at Sunderland’s expense.

A 10th straight Premier League win left Antonio Conte’s team six points clear at the top of the table on a night when Cesc Fàbregas not only scored the winning goal but, courtesy of a high-calibre central-midfield performance, reminded everyone of his enduring importance in west London.

Starting his third League game of the campaign, Fàbregas also helped keep the home side stuck firmly to the bottom of the division with their horizon looking increasingly bleak. Despite restricting Chelsea to that single goal, Sunderland created precious little of note until stoppage-time when Thibaut Courtois’s brilliant diversion of Patrick van Aanholt’s volley came between Conte and a technical area meltdown.

“I’m pleased for sure,” said Chelsea’s manager. “It’s not easy to win 10 games in a row in this league and we had to fight to win this one. We couldn’t quite kill it and, at the end, Sunderland had a big chance to equalise.”

After joking about his decision in selecting the “very good” Fàbregas, Conte stressed there can be no room for complacency. “Me and my players are doing something important,” he said. “But this league is very tough – the title is between six teams.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Thibaut Courtois makes a stunning last-gasp save as Chelsea held on for a 10th league win in a row Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters

David Moyes has never championed three at the back and points out that serious prizes are rarely won by sides configured with central-defensive trinities. There are exceptions to every rule though and, here, Sunderland’s manager arranged his team in a 3-4-3 formation, mirroring Chelsea’s system.

Maybe the full moon high in the Wearside sky prompted such boldness, perhaps imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery or possibly matching your opponents’ shape is the latest tactical fad. Whatever the reason, John O’Shea mirrored the David Luiz sweeping role as Sunderland started quite securely, if a little cagily, in a new design well suited to Billy Jones and Van Aanholt, their wing-backs. Chelsea enjoyed more possession but they initially struggled to trouble Jordan Pickford.

Change beckoned when, for once, Diego Costa escaped the attentions of O’Shea, Lamine Koné and the former Chelsea centre-half Papy Djilobodji. Unmarked, the centre-forward connected with a cross from Marcos Alonso, a one-time Sunderland loanee, but failed to get a proper purchase and sliced wide.

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It was a warning Sunderland failed to heed as they permitted N’Golo Kanté to seize possession deep in midfield. That interception prefaced Fàbregas and Willian – deputising for the injured Eden Hazard – exchanging passes. By shaping to shoot but, instead, squaring, Willian deceived a backline that proved powerless to prevent Fàbregas sweeping the ball imperiously past Pickford into the bottom right corner from the edge of the area.

Moyes’s gameplan of sitting back and hoping to snatch something on the break shattered instantly and the resultant frustration seemed manifested by swift bookings for Jermain Defoe and O’Shea for fouls on Fàbregas and Costa. Indeed, with a Willian free-kick whizzing fractionally off target half-time could not come quickly enough for the home side.

They emerged apparently galvanised and, almost immediately, nearly scored with their first real chance. Catching Chelsea in momentarily dozy mode, Defoe played in the overlapping Adnan Januzaj whose fine, first-time, shot forced the previously marginalised Courtois into a superb diving save.

Suitably stung, the visiting riposte proved rapid and vicious. Willian delighted in dodging Koné in a manner that made a mockery of the £25m release clause contained in the defender’s contract and his ensuing shot brushed the bar after deflecting off Djilobodji. Pickford barely had time to sigh with relief before ably repelling Costa’s low angled shot.

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Victor Moses bewildered Sebastian Larsson before shooting left-footed and narrowly wide in an on-going onslaught also featuring Willian missing the target after collecting David Luiz’s typically elegant pass.

Fàbregas, meanwhile, delighted in showing off his stellar passing range with one particularly exquisite delivery almost prompting a goal for Willian before a volley of his own swerved off target.

Such near misses almost proved extremely costly when, in stoppage time, Van Aanholt unleashed a spectacular volley destined for the top corner until Courtois’s stunning, win-preserving, intervention. “I thought it was in,” said Moyes. “But he made a top save.”