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New signing Ben Chilwell scored his first Chelsea goal as the defender's dynamic display on his Premier League debut for the Blues inspired a 4-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Hampered by a heel injury,
Chilwell had a delayed start to his first season with Chelsea following his £50
million ($64 million) move from Leicester in August.
But the England left-back is
making up for lost time after delivering an influential performance in his
third game following a pair of League Cup outings.
While Chelsea boss Frank
Lampard has invested in a host of attacking talent since the end of last
season, here it was Chilwell efforts that broke down Palace's stubborn defence
at Stamford Bridge.
Chilwell's thumping finish
put Chelsea ahead soon after half-time and he provided the assist for Kurt
Zouma's header as the Blues doubled their lead.
Jorginho added a pair of late
penalties for Chelsea to complete the rout, although the second caused some
angst for Tammy Abraham as the Blues striker argued with Cesar Azpilicueta
about who should take it before losing the heated debate with his captain.
That spat shouldn't take the
gloss off a composed display from Chelsea, who bounced back from their midweek
League Cup defeat against Tottenham and ended a run of two successive league
games without a win.
The defensive blunders that
contributed to their 3-3 draw at West Bromwich Albion were erased and,
crucially, Lampard's men found their cutting edge against defensive opponents.
Capping an encouraging day
for Chelsea, Christian Pulisic came off the bench after injury for his first
appearance of the season.
Lampard makes six changes to
the side that fell three goals down at West Brom last weekend, with Senegal
keeper Edouard Mendy starting for the first time in the league after his move
from Rennes.
With the experienced
Azpilicueta and Jorginho back in the starting line-up, Chelsea looked more
stable and mature.
They monopolised possession
in the first half without being able to prise open a Palace side sitting deep
inside their own half.
Kai Havertz made a driving
run and picked out Timo Werner, but the German's shot lacked the accuracy to
beat Palace keeper Vicente Guaita.
Jorginho fired just over after
Thiago Silva nodded down Chilwell's free-kick.
It was a familiar pattern for
Chelsea, who often dominated games without applying the knockout blow last
season.
But this time they had the
solution as the lively Chilwell finally broke the deadlock in the 50th minute.
Palace defender Mamadou Sakho
made a hash of clearing Callum Hudson-Odoi's cross and Azpilicueta hooked the
ball to Abraham, whose determined header allowed Chilwell to fire home from six
yards.
Chilwell's goal was a reward
for an enterprising display from the England defender, whose excellent
set-piece deliveries continued to pose a problem for Palace as Zouma glanced
his header just wide.
Palace had to come out of
their shell now and Mendy made his first save to keep out Andros Townsend's
deflected effort.
But Chilwell was proving
impossible for Palace to contain and he was catalyst for Chelsea's second goal
in the 66th minute.
Whipping a teasing cross into
the Palace area from wide on the left, Chilwell found Zouma and the defender
towered over Sakho to head home.
Chelsea were in control now
and Jorginho made it three in the 78th minute when he slotted in a penalty
after Abraham was fouled by Tyrick Mitchell.
Sakho conceded another
penalty four minutes later and, after Abraham's tantrum, Jorginho kept his
focus to make it four.
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