Luiz Felipe Scolari turned 60 yesterday and if the torrential downpour and bitter cold of Blackburn made it an inhospitable place to mark the occasion, he had plenty to celebrate anyway.
A snorkel or a dinghy might have made an appropriate gift but the Brazilian received three points, courtesy of Nicolas Anelka's brace, to reclaim the lead of the English Premier League.
Yet the match could have been much shorter.
'There was a time in the first half when Mr Foy (the referee) was a little bit doubtful whether the game would last 90 minutes,' revealed Chelsea coach Ray Wilkins.
'Had it continued to rain, I don't think the game would have lasted the duration.'
But Chelsea conquered the conditions and beat Blackburn.
It was a triumph of character, especially after the midweek defeat by Roma.
Wilkins explained: 'A lot of people would have been looking at that game thinking, 'It's a tough game at Blackburn; will they fancy it?'
'But they do have a lot of pride in their performance.'
Nevertheless, there was an element of farce to proceedings, especially as Anelka scored the opener.
Jose Bosingwa's shot from 40 metres struck Anelka on the knee, wrong-footing Paul Robinson, who was unable to change direction on the slick surface, and the ball trickled over the goal-line.
His second was more deliberate, a deft chip over the diving Robinson after Frank Lampard slid the ball through to him.
'He was exceptional today,' added Wilkins.
It means Anelka is the individual with most Premier League goals on 10 - including five in the last two games - and Chelsea are the top-scoring team.
The hard-fought away win was a staple of their success under Jose Mourinho, but they are being rebranded as entertainers.
This provided a compelling spectacle, albeit for unusual reasons.
Attacking impetus was allied to a reliability that was all too reminiscent of the Mourinho era.
After the frankly unusual experience of conceding three times in Rome, normal service was resumed.
With John Obi Mikel an invaluable shield in front of the back-four and Petr Cech an unbeatable presence behind, Chelsea's victory was a team effort.
But they did require their goalkeeper to make a tremendous save to keep out Carlos Villanueva's curling shot and an invaluable block to repel an effort from Jason Roberts.
Indeed, there were two in-form goalkeepers. Robinson did wonderfully to stop downward headers from Anelka and Florent Malouda and again to repel a shot from the striker.
A rout was prevented as Lampard's shot was tipped onto the bar and Anelka was denied a hat-trick.
Robinson may have been fortunate to stay on the pitch after appearing to trip Anelka after four minutes.
Yet his reprieve, and the Blackburn weather, mattered not.
