Chelsea romped to a seventh successive home Premier League win by beating Stoke City 5-0 on Saturday.
Most of the damage was done in the first half with Antonio Rudiger, Danny Drinkwater and Pedro all scoring inside the opening 23 minutes at Stamford Bridge.
Willian and Davide Zappacosta added to the scoring in the final 20 minutes to send the Blues, temporarily at least, above Manchester United into second in the table.
Stoke have the worst defensive record in the division and conceded their 42nd of the season after only three minutes when the unchallenged Rudiger headed Willian’s free kick home six yards from goal.
Drinkwater doubled Chelsea’s lead with a memorable first goal for the club, opening up his body to angle a dipping volley past a helpless Jack Butland from 25 yards.
Striker Alvaro Morata scored a hat-trick as Chelsea won the reverse fixture 4-0 in September, but he could not get the better of Butland today as the England goalkeeper twice thwarted him when one-on-one.
His compatriot Pedro had no such problems, finishing expertly into the bottom corner midway through the first half after dropping his shoulder to create the room to escape Josh Tymon from Willian’s pass.
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