The lead at the top of the Championship was restored to three points by Burnley as they beat a hard-working Blues team.
Two players who played in the World Cup, Anass Zaroury and Connor Roberts, scored first-half goals as the Clarets completed their 14th win of the season.
Zaroury's goal after 49 seconds was the fastest Championship goal of the season.
After helping to set up the first goal, Wales' Roberts then got in on the goal scoring act himself when he ended the first half as it had begun a minute before the break.
As the home fans enjoyed seeing three goals from their team for the fifth game in a row, Tella rounded it all off as he ran through to score.
There was an element of fortune about the opening goal of the game.
A foul on Krystian Bielik at the top end of the pitch in Blues' first attack was not punished by the referee and Zaroury was able to slot home from close range.
Zaroury's goal was his fourth in the past four home games after he only played in the third-place play-off against Belgium.
Roberts scored his first goal after being freed to play when his red card was overturned.
He used his reprieve to his advantage.
He had already created another opening, from which he powered a shot just over, when he conjured a one-two with Josh Brownhill and ran on to make the net ripple.
Blues had a number of chances to win the game, but keeper John Ruddy denied a Jay Rodriguez flick and Josh Cullen had a great chance, before Tella rounded it off.
The two sides are back in action on Friday when the Blues host Hull and the Clarets travel to the Potters.
On New Year's Day, the two teams play each other at home and away.
The boss of BURNLEY told the British Broadcasting Corporation.
While I was not concerned about the game, I knew that they would throw up some challenges for us. We had a hard time down there. Troy Deeney is a legend of the game and getting a clean sheet was just as important as scoring three goals again.
We didn't know what to expect when Zaroury returned. Is he starting? Is he going to be on the bench? The decision was made by what he did in training.
He's one of the players that I love having smile on their face. Working with players who want to improve is great. We're glad to have him.
It's important that goals are scored from all over the field. The players believe they can score. We aren't arrogant. We know we need to work harder to get those chances.
John Eustace is the boss of the city.
I was not happy with the way that first goal was scored. The stuffing out of us was knocked out by the foul on Krystian.
After regrouping and getting a bit of control, we let that one in on the stroke of half-time to knock us back again.
We competed better in the second half after changing a few things. The best team in the league isBURNLEY
It shows that we need to be a lot better against a side like that. Scott Hogan is close to returning but he's had a bug.
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