JOIN USMalouda struck his seventh league goal of the season and Kalou came off the bench to seal victory after the break for Carlo Ancelotti's side whose early-season torrent of goals has slowed to a trickle in recent weeks.
Tottenham Hotspur rose to third, seven points behind Chelsea, after Dutchman Rafael van der Vaart made it five goals in seven since joining the north London club, notching his side's equaliser in a 1-1 draw at home to improving Everton.
West Bromwich Albion maintained their dream start to life back in the top flight, moving into fourth place with a 2-1 home defeat of Fulham while Birmingham City beat Blackpool 2-0.
Sunderland beat Aston Villa 1-0 and Wigan Athletic's home match against Bolton Wanderers ended 1-1. Bottom club West Ham United host Newcastle United later on Saturday.
Manchester City can reduce Chelsea's lead on Sunday when they host Arsenal while Manchester United, down in sixth place, end their turbulent week away to Stoke City. Liverpool are at home against Blackburn Rovers.
In the early match, Tottenham wasted the chance to bolster their top-four ambitions after being held 1-1.
Van der Vaart scored for Spurs with an unmissable tap-in after 20 minutes after Everton had taken the lead when Leighton Baines curled a free kick past Heurelho Gomes.
Tottenham, beaten 4-3 by Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday, were the brighter side in the first half and should have reached halftime in front but Peter Crouch wasted a couple of good opportunities for the home side.
Neither side did enough to take all three points after the break although Tottenham did have the better chances with Crouch again guilty of some sloppy finishing.
After a slow start to the season mid-table Everton stretched their unbeaten league run to four games.
They are a good side. You don't get an easy game with Everton, you never do," Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham manager told Sky Sports after the game. "We had the better of the chances but I'm happy with a point ...... to come back from 1-0 down again shows tremendous character from our side."