Chelsea brushed off their injury problems to storm to a resounding 4-0 win over a hapless Everton side at Stamford Bridge.

With Frank Lampard missing five key members of his squad, the Chelsea boss handed a first Premier League start to 18-year-old midfielder Billy Gilmour, who kept his place after a fine display in the FA Cup against Liverpool.

Willian passed a late fitness test to line up in a front three alongside Olivier Giroud and Pedro while Everton were able to field arguably their strongest line-up.

The home side started brighter, though, boasting a brand of slick and incisive passing and their work on the training ground was evident when Mount went close after just seven minutes, forcing a smart stop from Jordan Pickford.

The Blues built on their impressive start, with their midfield trio outnumbering Andre Gomes and Tom Davies in the middle, and with a quarter of an hour gone they took the lead in fine fashion.

After a patient passing move, Pedro took it upon himself to dribble past two defenders and feed in Mount, who turned on a sixpence and fired a low snapshot into the bottom corner with Pickford standing little chance of getting there.

Lampard’s men had their tails up and a second didn’t look far away, with Willian seeing a powerful low strike parried wide after a fine pass over the top from Barkley.

Just when it seemed as if Everton had finally settled in the game, the ruthless Blues extended their advantage. Gilmour’s intelligent play created a yard of space for him to find Ross Barkley and his pinpoint through pass found Pedro, who slotted past Pickford with a composed finish.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin, so often an astute finisher in front of goal, was guilty of a shocking miss after a mistake from Kurt Zouma, somehow skewing his effort wide from 10 yards out.

Ancelotti was forced into a change at the break, bringing on Theo Walcott for Bernard, and you got the feeling the Italian would have made a whole lot more such was his side’s woeful display in the first half.

And six minutes later, Chelsea piled on the misery. Barkley was involved in the build-up again, threading a pass into the feet of Willian who thundered a 20-yard rocket into the bottom corner.

Chelsea looked in the mood while Everton resembled a team woefully short of confidence, conceding a fourth just three minutes later when Willian’s cross was met with a clever finish from Olivier Giroud at the far post.

It wasn’t a perfect afternoon, however, when Mount limped off with a suspected hamstring injury. But that gave Lampard the chance to hand debuts to academy prospects Tino Anjorin and Armando Broja late on.

But Chelsea finally delivered the ruthless display Lampard had been crying out for with their biggest home win in the league this season – and a top-four finish is becoming more of a reality with every game.

Business Standard