ANALYSIS-Soccer-Chelsea open gap at the top but long road ahead

By Mike Collett

LONDON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - They played "I'm Beginning to See the Light" at the end of Chelsea's 1-0 win over Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.

With almost a third of the season now gone in the title race, the old standard captured perfectly the mood of the west London side's elated fans.

Captain John Terry's headed goal after 76 minutes at Stamford Bridge was enough to give Chelsea a victory they just about deserved to put some daylight between them, Arsenal and Alex Ferguson's champions at the top of the table.

However, United were desperately close to taking at least one point, if not all three, from a match that took more than an hour to live up to its billing as the big clash featuring all that is best in the Premier League.

Most of the 90 minutes were full of errors from both teams, neither of which asserted any pattern or authority on the game until the last phase after Chelsea scored. The win was their 11th in a row at home in all matches -- equalling a club record.

They have also gone 14 hours 32 minutes without conceding a goal at Stamford Bridge since Hull City scored in the opening game of the season.

Clearly, at this stage of the season, Chelsea are a long way from having even one hand on the trophy, although 30 points from their opening 12 games, five more than Arsenal, who have a game in hand, and United is certainly an impressive haul.