A Weekly Blog on All Things Chelsea

Frank Lampard marked his 500th Premier League start with a goal as Chelsea thrashed a young Aston Villa side at Stamford Bridge.

The seeds for Villa’s biggest defeat in top-flight football were sown early. A free kick within the first minute was cleared, but there was nothing goalkeeper Brad Guzan could do to keep out a towering Fernando Torres header after three minutes. The second came just before the half hour. David Luiz, who played in the midfield role many feel he can excel in, lining up a free kick just outside the Villa area before powering it over the wall and getting the ball to dip as it ripped past Guzan. It was the third direct free kick the Blues scored in the league this year, having not scored a single one last term.

With Chelsea two goals to the good, and with Villa’s main threat, Christian Benteke, unable to break the offside trap, the home team were able to turn on the style, and it was not long before they were three goals to the good. Former Villa man Gary Cahill’s turn and shot was well saved by Guzan, but the rebound fell to Branislav Ivanovic, who headed past the diminutive Barry Bannan to notch up his fourth goal of the Premier League season.

The midfield pairing of Lampard and Luiz were in total control of the game, and after half time it was Lampard’s turn to get his name on the scoresheet, and it was in typical Lampard style, chesting the ball down 20 yards from goal before rifling a shot low into the corner of the net. It was his 130th top flight goal for the club, taking him one above Bobby Tambling as the leading top flight goalscorer for Chelsea.

It was to be his final involvement in the game, substituted for Ramires with an hour gone. The ovation from the crowd, along with chants of “Sign him up” shows that there is still a desire to see Lampard and Ashley Cole sign new deals past the end of this current season. Even with one of the stars of the show withdrawn, it did little to halt the onslaught. it was the substitute Ramires who was on hand to score the fifth. Fellow replacement Lucas Piazon’s perfectly placed pass was directly into the path of his fellow Brazilian, and as Chelsea fans have seen plenty of times before the midfielder slotted the ball through the legs of the keeper with aplomb.

Piazon was involved in the sixth as well, playing the ball into the area for another of the substitutes, Oscar, who was pulled to the ground by Chris Herd. He picked himself up to fire an unstoppable penalty high into the net. Not wanting to be left out of the goal-getting, Eden Hazard scored the seventh, which was also one of the best. His close control and power was on show as he glided past two weak challenges before powering the ball into the net with Guzan helpless and left berating his defenders as the home side celebrated. The American stopper, who was Villa’s best performer on the day, did get a chance to at least keep the score to single figures when he kept out the second penalty of the day, this time from Piazon after he was fouled by Ciaran Clark. There was still time for one more though, with Ramires again getting into the area as the ball was played to him, and firing into the top corner.

The final quarter of the game involved four goals, and it was the also the first time there were seven different goal scorers in the same game. Following the 5-1 hammering of Leeds midweek, 13 goals in the two games after the trip to Japan shows that while it was disappointing not to win the Club World Cup there is success, and entertainment, to be had this season.