Independent:
Chelsea 8 Aston Villa 0
Chelsea's festive binge returns the feelgood factor to the Bridge
by Jack Pitt-Brooke
What a timely return to lavish home comfort this was for Chelsea. After the trauma of their autumn, this gluttonous win was precisely what they wanted for Christmas.
There was a real sense of homecoming at Stamford Bridge last night, and not just because – owing to the Club World Cup – this was their first Premier League game for more than a fortnight. With this big victory it felt as if the old riotous abundance, the ease, the confidence and the success which used to define Chelsea's home league games had returned, in greater portions than almost ever before.
This was the biggest league win since Chelsea beat Wigan by the same scoreline in May 2010. And, like any festive binge, it was almost an uncomfortable experience at the end. There was no prospect whatsoever of any Christmas charity as Villa looked callow and out of place and were handed their worst ever defeat.
Chelsea were once formidable at Stamford Bridge. They were unbeaten here in the league between February 2004 and October 2008. But that had slipped in recent years. Last night's rout was a throwback.
The first goal of eight, from Fernando Torres, was Chelsea's first here in the Premier League since Remembrance Sunday, six weeks ago. Even that came in a 1-1 draw with Liverpool. This, bizarrely, was their first home league win for 11 weeks, when they beat Norwich City 4-1, with 10 games of Roberto Di Matteo's reign left to run.
There were the customary chants for Di Matteo yesterday but none of "We want our Chelsea back" – that wish having seemingly been fulfilled on the pitch. It barely seems worth noting that this was the best performance of the Rafael Benitez era.
In the first half it was clinical and efficient, the three goals all gifted by Paul Lambert's young and inexperienced side. But Chelsea, with weeks of frustration within them, punished Villa in the second half. Rather than preserving their energy ahead of a busy Christmas programme, Chelsea – inspired by the substitutes Ramires, Oscar and Lucas Piazon – scored four in the final 15 minutes, and even found time to miss a penalty kick too.
The imbalance between the teams was clear after two minutes. Lambert understandably kept the same team that won 3-1 at Liverpool last weekend but it is still ambitious to field a back three aged 21, 23 and 23 years old. Lambert's trust in his players is admirable but trust is a risk.
Cesar Azpilicueta swung in a cross from the right. Ciaran Clark and Chris Herd each thought that Torres belonged to the other. Torres ran through, jumped and headed the ball perfectly beyond Brad Guzan into the far top corner.
The surprise, given what followed, is that Chelsea were not even playing particularly assertively in the first half. David Luiz and Frank Lampard were in midfield but they were happy to allow Villa, purposeful but imprecise, to give them the ball back. At this stage Villa's main problems could be put down to over-enthusiasm.
Herd needlessly clattered into Eden Hazard from behind after 29 minutes. The free-kick was taken by Luiz who, with that instep whip, fired the ball over the wall, down and into the net. Benitez said on Friday that Luiz is more free to express himself from midfield and this was the peak of an afternoon of imaginative and technical excellence.
It was as well taken as the first goal but was a chance that an experienced defence should not concede. And so was the third goal, five minutes later. Juan Mata's corner fell to Gary Cahill who spun and shot. Guzan saved and Branislav Ivanovic, unmarked, headed in.
Villa, at the interval, could look at one skewed Barry Bannan shot as the extent of their threat. They might have rearranged at half-time but Lambert could not exactly bring in experienced defenders, having only 22-year-old Joe Bennett in that position on the bench.
So there was no change, just more of the same. It might have worked, had Chelsea been in the mood for seasonal goodwill. But they certainly were not, and when Guzan had to save well from Lampard, Torres and Victor Moses at the start of the second half, it was clear this was going to get harder.
The fourth, the last before the deluge, came from Lampard. Chesting the ball down 25 yards from goal, he let it bounce twice before striking it perfectly into the far bottom corner. He was taken off two minutes later to the sound of the fans imploring the club to offer him a new contract.
Roman Abramovich, though, might just point to Chelsea's improvement after Lampard went off. It was the introduction of three Brazilian midfielders, Ramires, Oscar and Piazon, which brought the punishing next four goals.
Piazon, with his first touches in the Premier League, played in Ramires, who ran forward and scored Chelsea's fifth. Three minutes later, Piazon found Oscar, who was pulled over by Herd and got up to finish the resultant penalty.
Five minutes after that Oscar supplied Hazard, who shuffled into space and thundered the ball into the top corner.
There was still time for Piazon to win a penalty only to see it well saved by Guzan, who performed as nobly as any goalkeeper who concedes so many can.
But, in added time, the American let in the eighth, as Ramires exchanged passes with Oscar before finishing high and hard.
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Guardian:
Fernando Torres sparks Chelsea's eight-goal demolition of Aston Villa
Dominic Fifield at Stamford Bridge
Back in Yokohama, Rafael Benítez had broken away from talk of possibly winning the Club World Cup to suggest this fixture could inspire a title challenge. Beat Aston Villa with a hint of pizzazz and his players would "start building their confidence" and, with it, conviction. To have thrashed that opposition out of sight presumably confirms the pursuit of the league leadership is well and truly revived.
This was a thrashing to send shock waves up and down the division. Villa may be wide-eyed and vulnerable but they had arrived unbeaten in six games and still ended shredded, Chelsea having mustered a performance brimming with all the panache that typified the latter weeks of their last Premier League title success. Carlo Ancelotti had been in charge when these opponents and Stoke had been dispatched to the tune of seven goals, and Wigan whipped on the final day by eight. Benitez's team missed a penalty when the score was 7-0, the over-worked Brad Guzan somehow denying Lucas Piazón, but the American will have taken little pleasure in that mini-triumph. After all, this was Villa's heaviest defeat, with seven other Chelsea players having beaten him en route.
Such ruthlessness has been lacking at times, even when Roberto Di Matteo's team felt so swashbuckling over the opening weeks of this term. There may be mild surprise that it is a Benítez side who have registered 22 goals in four domestic matches – particularly given how blunt his players had appeared in those goalless stalemates with Manchester City and Fulham upon his appointment – but this team can click.
The interim first-team manager had the luxury of hauling a trio of key players from the fray relatively early with one eye on the cluttered programme to come. Their replacements merely dazzled in their stead, with four goals plundered and the spot-kick missed in the last 15 minutes.
Manchester United remain 11 points clear but Chelsea, risen from seventh back to third, have a game in hand and a timely injection of form. "You could see the players had confidence, that they believed," Benítez said. "They had good movement from the start, created plenty of chances, missed other chances, but the mentality was right: even after six goals they were still pushing forward for more. You can see the team are improving, and I'm sure the race will be closer. We can still improve and I say that after winning by eight … But now we have to sustain this run. If we do, it will be easier to say we can compete."
They benefited from Villa's fragility, their three-man defence by-passed in the opening exchanges and Paul Lambert either unable or reluctant to switch his tactical approach even as the game was veering away by the break.
There was no real defensive experience to call on from the bench, and an understandable lack of leadership from the youngsters enduring the scorching on the pitch. It was hard to contemplate that they had won at Stamford Bridge only last season, with this such a mismatch from the moment César Azpilicueta's fine whipped cross and Fernando Torres's thumping header from distance set the tone.
The striker now boasts seven goals in six matches, with this arguably his finest since joining the club. He still needs to produce such brilliance for this team on a major occasion, as the tournament in Japan proved, but a lack of confidence is less of a problem these days. Torres's bite is back.
At Anfield the previous weekend Villa had not been punished for a nervy start and, once settled, had imposed themselves impressively to maintain that recent flurry of form. Yet, once punctured early here, recovery never felt likely. They never coped with Chelsea's slippery pace down the flanks, where Victor Moses, Eden Hazard and Juan Mata interchanged with such relish, and Piazón and Oscar later joined in the fun. Inexperienced personnel wilted in the face of the onslaught. Villa's is a long-term plan and there will be occasions as miserable as this to endure.
Chelsea were irrepressible. David Luiz, relishing his second outing in central midfield, curled a glorious free-kick beyond Guzan in front of a baying Shed just before the half-hour mark to double the lead. Villa were still teetering moments later when Gary Cahill controlled Frank Lampard's corner with his first touch and spat a shot goalwards with his second. Guzan did wonderfully well to react to that attempt, but Branislav Ivanovic reacted quickest to nod in the rebound from the underside of the bar. Lampard's own reward was a volley from 20 yards, his 130th top-flight goal for Chelsea to eclipse Bobby Tambling's record. The irony was his departure moments later, to an optimistic chorus of "sign him up" from the stands, actually prompted the avalanche.
Villa withered away. Ramires, set up by Piazón's sublime first involvement – a pass threaded between Joe Bennett and Nathan Baker – finished through Guzan's legs and later side-footed in the eighth. Oscar won and then converted a penalty, with Hazard twisting away from two panicked Villa defenders before thrashing a blistering shot into the top corner.
Villa had been praying for the end for some time. Chelsea must hope this is merely the beginning of their own charge back towards the summit.
Man of the match Juan Mata (Chelsea)
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Telegraph:
Chelsea reveal ruthless side in 8-0 Premier League thrashing of Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge
by Paul Hayward
Under Rafa Benítez in December, Chelsea have put six past Nordsjaelland, five through Leeds and now eight in Aston Villa’s net. The two 0-0 draws with which Roman Abramovich’s latest appointee started his “interim” reign were the manure for a remarkable flowering of goals and entertainment.
Perspective is called for. Nordsjaelland were Champions League also-rans from Denmark. Leeds – Capital One Cup victims – play in the Championship; andAston Villa walked to the slaughter with a team whose average age was 23 years and 309 days. Also this month Chelseahave lost at West Ham and to Corinthians in the Fifa Club World Cup final. But if they carry on playing like this, the two-horse Premier League title race will be joined by another thoroughbred.
What larks at Christmas time. There was joy all around, except for Villa, whose young lions were wiped out. In his 500th Premier League start, Frank Lampard overtook Bobby Tambling as the club’s leading top-flight scorer, moving to 130 with a 25-yard drive before leaving the field to thunderous acclaim. Within three minutes of the start there was a sixth in seven outings for Fernando Torres, a £50 million striker who was turning into the Tin Man before Benítez arrived with his can of oil.
Torres was the first of seven scorers in a game that crushed Villa’s mini- revival. Only Ramires, who replaced Lampard on the hour, scored twice, as David Luiz, Oscar, Branislav Ivanovic and Eden Hazard also beat Brad Guzan in the Villa goal. The transformation in Torres is startling. Even his facial muscles have relaxed. His headed goal from a cross by César Azpilicueta would have graced Didier Drogba’s showreel. It was all elevation, precision and power: a Roy of the Rovers finish as he twisted his neck to head the ball with savage force.
From there Chelsea seemed to sense it would be a fun day. Their first home league goal since Nov 11 unleashed an avalanche. Benítez’s appointment, which was resented and ridiculed by Chelsea’s supporters, was meant to usher in an age of austerity, with caution to the fore. Benítez would turn Roberto Di Matteo’s team into a conservative unit. Instead the response from the players has been positive. The caretaker has avoided the mistake of stamping on their creativity. He has presented himself as someone who wants to help them attack more fluently while improving their defensive strength.
Again, though, they have to play this well against top opposition for the jury to be convinced. Norwich (on Boxing Day), Everton, Queens Park Rangers and Stoke must be dealt with before Arsenal’s visit on Jan 20. If Chelsea could win all those four games the Manchester clubs would not feel so secure in their private battle for the title.
“The main thing is to win our games. You can do that if you can see the team improving,” Benítez said. “I’m sure it will be closer. We’ll try to be as close as possible, but you can see the mentality of the team: even after six goals they were still pushing forward for more.”
For Paul Lambert there were disquieting echoes of a 7-1 battering inflicted on Martin O’Neill’s Aston Villa on this grass. Very blue and needing claret, Villa’s fans were subjected to chants of, “You should have gone Christmas shopping” from the home crowd. Their prolific striker, Christian Benteke, was snuffed out by the Chelsea centre-back pairing of Gary Cahill and Ivanovic, who has given way at right-back to Azpilicueta, an excellent buy at £7million.
Strong, athletic and confident, Azpilicueta motors over the ground. His expert crossing is a major addition to Chelsea’s arsenal. Another plus is that Luiz looks at home in a central midfield screening role. Without Mikel and Oriol Romeu, Luiz linked up with Lampard to allow Juan Mata, Hazard and Victor Moses to spin their patterns.
Torres has scored 59 times in 84 Premier League appearances for Benítez.
The switch in his head has been flicked by the knowledge that Benítez will always play to his strengths as predator, pinned against defenders. In his new role Torres is not dropping deep or roaming across the line. With his manager’s support he is free to return to his oldest talents. So liberated is he by this change of management that he tried a ‘rabona’ pass on the byline: a chip delivered by the back leg coming round in front of the standing one to lift the ball.
Almost all Chelsea’s eight goals were attractive. Luiz’s free-kick drew on Cristiano Ronaldo or Drogba. It clipped the ball up over a wall and then lowered it again beyond Guzan. Hazard’s drive was a blaster. Ramires finished his two beautifully. After the interval, Mata, Oscar and Moses all missed chances. After earning a penalty when Ciaran Clark ran across him and clipped him in the box, Lucas Piazón saw his shot from the penalty spot saved by Guzan. Earlier Oscar had made no such error, with Chelsea’s sixth, after a foul by Chris Herd.
Benítez is still a long way short of deification here but at least he has challenged the idea that he would take this team to the parade ground and preach sterility. No longer is there evidence of resistance in the players’ dealings with their leader.
But Benítez denies he had to win them over. “I don’t agree,” he said. “The players were really focused from day one. They knew they had a new manager and they had to perform. The players, from day one, were trying to learn, to improve, and they were keen to learn.” His message to Abramovich: an interim manager is not just for Christmas.
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Times:
Chelsea 8 Aston Villa 0: Blues crush young Villains
Torres and Lampard are back among the goals as Chelsea surge in to the top-four and arrest Aston Villa's five-match unbeaten run
Nick Townsend
BEFORE the game, Rafa Benitez had stressed that he believed he was winning over the fans and that Chelsea were still in the title race.
Neither of those notions may have appeared likely, but this demolition of Paul Lambert’s young side – Villa’s worst defeat in top-flight football – offered a thumping vindication to both claims on a day when the Londoners edged two points closer to leaders Manchester United, climbed to third place, and gave a significant boost to their goal difference. A Champions League place is rather more realistic for a team still 11 points adrift of Sir Alex Ferguson’s men, but in this mood who knows?
The Chelsea interim manager had said in his programme notes: “We have the determination to show that we are still in the title race this season”. Afterwards he said: “The main thing is to win our games, and you can do it if you can see the team improving. We will try to be as close as possible.”
Such a result could well contribute towards the Spaniard extending his tenure here beyond this season – though he has also been linked with a possible vacancy at Real Madrid if, as expected, Jose Mourinho departs – but he would only comment: “I will try to do my best from day one until my last day. Hopefully everything will go in the same way that it has today.”
It was eight. It could have been 12. Chelsea even missed a penalty. What made the outcome even more remarkable was that this was a Chelsea whom many had prophesised would be fatigued following the long haul to Japan to contest the Fifa Club World Cup.
By half-time, Benitez’s men had emphatically rubbished that theory after Fernando Torres – remember him, the disconsolate character for whom goalscoring became an alien concept in the immediate aftermath of his £50m move from Liverpool – started the rout within the first three minutes with his seventh goal in six games.
Benitez has clearly instilled self-belief in his compatriot, and said: “He’s a striker and he needed to score goals. The team’s doing well. He has more chances and he has more confidence because he’s scoring goals.”
The Spain international was one of seven scorers – the first occasion that has occurred in a Premier League match – and Benitez added: “The whole team is attacking. It is not just about one or two players.”
Another scorer was Frank Lampard, starting his first Premier League game for nearly three months – and his 500th in total. Can Chelsea really dispense with the vast experience and goalscoring he brings? David Luiz was also on target and flourished in his midfield role, in front of the back four.
Asked if he could pick faults in the Chelsea performance, Benitez retorted wryly: “Yes, I have my notes here. I guarantee that we can still improve.”
By the end the home supporters were chorusing at their Villa counterparts. “You should have gone Christmas shopping…” It won’t have been easy watching for the visiting supporters, but manager Paul Lambert knows that in reconstructing his team with so many young players there will be days like this. It is how they respond. They went down 5-1 to Manchester City in November and then went on an unbeaten run of six games, including that Capital One Cup quarter-final triumph at Norwich and the 3-1 victory at Anfield last Saturday.
Worringly for Villa, however, they remain only three points clear of the relegation places. “We were well beaten and second best all over the pitch,” said Lambert. “We’ll have to pick ourselves up and go again on Wednesday (at home to Tottenham). You have to be bang at it every single game, and we were well below our standard of late.”
He added: “The players will be really hurt by this, so it won’t be a problem getting them up for Wednesday.”
Torres’ 12th goal of the season inside three minutes set the trend. It was a superb header from 15 yards from Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross. The excellent Luiz increased Chelsea’s advantage just before the half-hour when he unleashed a venomous free-kick over the wall and past goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
Chelsea were rampant and Ivanovic added a third when he headed home after Guzan had only been able to parry Cahill’s smart attempt on the turn from Juan Mata’s corner.
In that first period, Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech was untroubled by Villa. Leading scorer Christian Benteke worked tirelessly but could make no headway against centre-backs Branislav Ivanovic and Gary Cahill.
After the break, Chelsea continued to break through the Villa lines at will. Guzan saved well from Mata and Victor Moses. Lampard got on the scoresheet with his fourth goal of the season, majestically sweeping the ball home across the beleaguered Guzan from outside the area.
The closest Villa came to a reply was when substitute Stephen Ireland created a fine opening for Andreas Weimann. The Austrian’s goal-bound effort was turned on to the bar and over by Cech.
The pain had not ended for Villa. Substitute Oscar speared a splendid ball to fellow substitute Ramires who finished under Guzan. The Brazilian was then grabbed by Chris Herd in the area and fired home the resulting penalty himself. Hazard netted a seventh before Ciaran Clark brought down substitute Lucas Piazon to concede another penalty. He took the spot-kick himself but Guzan made a fine save.
But Ramires finished things off with an eighth in stoppage time that could not come soon enough for Lambert and his men.
Chelsea: Cech, Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Cahill, Cole, Luiz, Lampard (Ramires 61min), Moses, Mata (Piazon 74min), Hazard, Torres (Oscar 67min)
Aston Villa: Guzan, Herd, Clark, Baker, Lowton, Bannan, Westwood (Ireland 57min), Lichaj (Elliott 57min), Weimann, Holman, Benteke
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Mail:
Chelsea 8 Aston Villa 0: Brilliant Blues back up to third after rout on Lampard landmark
By MATT BARLOW
A month ago, hate dripped from the steep tiers at Stamford Bridge as Rafa Benitez appeared on the touchline. Yesterday, the place was thrilled by eight goals. Not once did the Chelsea fans join in song to tell Benitez he wasn’t wanted here.
The last time they saw their team score this many was the final game of the Barclays Premier League season in 2010, when Carlo Ancelotti’s team walloped Wigan to celebrate the first leg of their first Double.
But that was Carlo, a free-wheeling and popular manager who implored his players to attack. This was Rafa, a cautious tactician, always alert to danger, who sat down after an 8-0 win to say: ‘We knew they would be dangerous in the counter-attacks.’
Emotions were all over the place as post-Japan Chelsea returned to the Premier League in emphatic style by condemning Aston Villa to the biggest defeat in their 138-year history.
They may have arrived unbeaten in six games but Paul Lambert’s team went home perilously close to the drop zone with the worst goal difference in the division.
Villa were awful but Chelsea were slick and impressive.
There were eight goals from seven different scorers but there could have been many more.
The Blues even missed a penalty but go into Christmas 11 points behind leaders Manchester United with a game in hand at home to Southampton.
In a month of Benitez, Fernando Torres has been transformed to the point where he seems to be enjoying his football and refused to sulk off when he was replaced.
The Spain striker opened the scoring in the third minute, rising to meet a deep cross from Cesar Azpilicueta with a majestic header from the edge of the penalty area.
It was his seventh under the new manager and his seventh in the last six games.
‘He scores when he wants,’ sang the fans in the Matthew Harding Stand, saluting the Benitez factor without giving him credit.
This won’t bother the manager too much. He will take his satisfaction from the aggressive tempo which crushed Villa.
The back five have worked well for Lambert since centre half and skipper Ron Vlaar was injured but Chelsea forced them deep, creating space for Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Victor Moses.
Villa lurched from uncertainty to desperation. Nathan Baker escaped a strong penalty appeal when he appeared to hold Torres and Chelsea’s second came when Chris Herd sent Hazard tumbling.
David Luiz stepped up and scored the free-kick, a shot which wobbled over the wall and beat goalkeeper Brad Guzan, a good yard inside his post.
Luiz, signed almost two years ago at the same time as Torres, has also endured an oscillating career at the club but appears to have made significant progress under Benitez, who used him as a deep midfielder yesterday in the absence of John Mikel Obi, who was banned.
The role suits Luiz, certainly when Chelsea control possession. He performed it with success against Monterrey in the Club World Cup semi-final and was comfortable against Villa.
There is a safety net if he takes an undue risk and loses the ball, as he did at Leeds in the Capital One Cup, yet his team benefit from his exuberance and unpredictability in attack.
It was one of those days for Chelsea. Not only were the converted centre halves threatening Guzan in the Villa goal but so were the unconverted ones.
Guzan produced a terrific reflex save to beat out Gary Cahill’s shot on the spin before the interval but the rebound popped up to his defensive partner Branislav Ivanovic to head in the third.
Fear took hold, mistakes crept in and Christian Benteke never looked like scoring. The only chance of any note fell to Andreas Weimann — on the break, as Benitez predicted — in the second half.
Weimann was denied by Petr Cech, who deflected his low shot on to the bar to protect his clean sheet, despite the fact the contest was already over.
Frank Lampard scored the fourth with a right-foot volley from 30 yards. It was his 190th goal for Chelsea — three behind Kerry Dixon, who stands second in the all-time goal list for the club — on his 500th Premier League start.
It was also his 130th top-flight goal for the club. No one has more. Lampard was replaced a minute later to a standing ovation. Torres was also taken off to rest ahead of the festive fixtures which will dictate whether this is to turn into a genuine title fightback.
With Daniel Sturridge in Liverpool for a medical, Moses played the last 23 minutes at centre forward and the Blues finished with a front four of Moses, Oscar, Hazard and Lucas Piazon, an 18-year-old Brazilian making his Premier League debut.
It was a quartet with an average age of just over 20 but Piazon wasted no time making an impact, collecting the ball on the left, gliding inside and finding Ramires, who scored the fifth. It was a nice pass but did not need to be laser-guided.
Villa were all at sea by this stage and not helped when referee Phil Dowd started to hand out soft penalties.
Herd was penalised for a slight pull on Oscar, who picked himself up to make it six from the spot. Hazard lashed the seventh into the top corner and Piazon missed a second penalty after he was fouled by Ciaran Clark. Guzan made the save.
It was a very strange afternoon for the American goalkeeper.
Ramires scored the eighth in stoppage time and the Bridge stood to rejoice. For the man they reviled as the Spanish waiter, will it be any different after eight?
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Mirror:
Christmas stuffing: Chelsea stick eight past hapless Villa to go third
[image: Fernando Torres celebrates scoring the opening goal with Victor Moses]
By Martin Lipton | 23 Dec 2012 18:08
Oh no they’re not, Rafa.
Getting behind the Spaniard, that is, despite the interim manager’s claims.
This humiliation for Paul Lambert, a message of intent from the Blues, served only to confirm that the only day some Chelsea fans will acknowledge Rafa Benitez’s existence at Stamford Bridge is the day he leaves.
Even when he orchestrates the biggest league win since they also put eight past Wigan to win the title under Carlo Ancelotti in 2010, the best he can expect is to be ignored. But at least the fans did not spend 90 minutes making Benitez a pantomime villain, even if the only manager name-checked remains Roberto Di Matteo.
At some point, surely, some of them might begin to see what is in front of their eyes, rather than ignore the blinding truth.
That Benitez has changed Chelsea for the better. And might still get them back in the title race.
Of course, for a large proportion, especially those determined to castigate Benitez at every opportunity, his infamous “facts” rant about Sir Alex Ferguson is part of their armoury.
But sometimes true facts are clear. Facts like Fernando Torres having scored more goals in the last six games under Benitez than he did in four months this season for Di Matteo.
Facts like 25 goals for the team since December 5, as Benitez finally made his mark on a side now back in third and looking as if they truly mean business.
Like a return to the fluency of the early part of the campaign, despite the absence of John Terry.
And like the way Benitez has, just as he promised, turned David Luiz into the player he always had the potential to be – whether at centre-back or, as yesterday, in midfield.
Hapless Villa may have arrived on the back of a six-game unbeaten run yet they were embarrassed from first kick to last.
Barely three minutes had elapsed when Chelsea secured the advantage, the finish from Torres outstanding and unanswerable.
Cesar Azpilicueta cantered down the right and delivered 16 yards out, where Torres eluded the alleged attentions of Ciaran Clark and powered a stunning header past Brad Guzan.
It was Torres’ seventh goal in 18 days, further evidence that the £50million man is responding to the man who helped create his reputation in their time at Anfield.
In truth, from that stage it was merely a question of the final margin, Chelsea in utter control, Villa never any threat. Luiz made it two with a terrific free-kick, beating Guzan all ends up after a needless foul on Eden Hazard by Chris Herd was duly punished.
The third followed before the break. Gary Cahill swivelled to shoot from Frank Lampard’s corner and while Guzan saved, Branislav Ivanovic was on hand to nod in the rebound.
And even though Lambert tried to stem the flood, it was relentless, Guzan alone keeping it below double figures, albeit only jus
Juan Mata could have scored, Victor Moses should have scored and only the flag denied Torres another before Lampard marked his 500th Premier League start with a trademark strike from 25 yards.
It was Lampard’s 130th top-flight goal for Chelsea, overtaking Bobby Tambling to go top of the all-time list, just 10 short of a double century for the club.
“Sign him up” urged the home fans, still refusing to acknowledge the manager. Their pleas, though, will fall on deaf ears.
By now it was almost too easy. Hazard spooned over with the goal at his mercy and while Petr Cech made one save – his only one of the match – from Andreas Weimann, Chelsea were dominant.
Guzan saved from Azpilicueta, Oscar missed a sitter after replacing Torres, before Lucas Piazon’s first touch after replacing Mata saw fellow substitute Ramires drive through Guzan’s legs.
Oscar then made it six from the spot – his first Premier League goal – after being downed by Herd.
Still time for more goals. Hazard twisted, turned then crashed home past the exposed and utterly befuddled Guzan, who had scarcely saved Piazon’s spot-kick before he was beaten for the eighth time by Ramires, set up by Oscar.
Benitez smiled wryly. He can point to the facts and let others decide.
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Sun:
Chelsea 8 Aston Villa 0
by Mark Irwin
Needless to say it was not interim boss Rafa Benitez the supporters want owner Roman Abramovich to keep.
Spaniard Benitez will have to win 8-0 every week until his contract runs out at the end of the season to have the remotest chance of the faithful changing their minds about his presence.
But, as skipper Frank Lampard left the pitch on the hour having smashed in a stunning fourth from 25 yards, the Shed End made it crystal clear how much they want the board to keep him.
The veteran’s contract is up in June and there is no sign of a new one. Yet, even at the age of 34, he is still doing the business.
On his 500th Premier League start, Lampard was the fulcrum of a stunning victory. His goal was his 190th for Chelsea, his 130th in the top flight and his 100th in the capital.
He continues to break records.
What a servant Lampard has been at Stamford Bridge — and what an example to the young English players of today.
There is barely enough room in this report to describe the goals yesterday, let alone all the other chances Chelsea had.
It could have been the Premier League’s first scoreline in double figures.
It was surprising in that Villa arrived on a run of six games without defeat. They had notched up a superb 3-1 win at Liverpool in their last game.
It was Fernando Torres, rejuvenated under Benitez, who got the first within three minutes and it was quite a goal.
Full-back Cesar Azpilicueta’s measured cross found the striker and his header from 16 yards was an absolute bullet and Brad Guzan had no chance. Benitez has given Torres fresh confidence, although do not expect the Blues fans to dish out any credit.
As usual, 16 minutes in, they were acclaiming former boss Roberto Di Matteo — the man who won them the Champions League last season.
Benitez said during the week that he thought he was winning over the fans but it does not sound like it.
On 29 minutes David Luiz, enjoying life in midfield, sent a free-kick in the Cristiano Ronaldo mode fizzing beyond the despairing Guzan.
There was a third before half-time when former Villa man Gary Cahill turned and shot. Guzan pushed it away but Branislav Ivanovic followed up with a headed goal.
Villa were being pulled here, there and everywhere and showed no sign of getting back into it, while striker Christian Benteke must have been offside at least six times.
Guzan was a busy boy and made a stunning save to deny Juan Mata. He also denied Victor Moses with his outstretched leg as the wave kept on coming after the break.
But the USA international could not keep performing miracles and Lampard’s belter beat him.
Off went Lamps, on came Ramires and there was no sign of Chelsea putting their foot on the ball and settling.
There was a brief moment for Villa as Andreas Weimann’s shot struck Petr Cech and hit the bar but it was not long before Blues had a fifth.
Ramires converted through Guzan’s legs having been put in by fellow sub Lucas Piazon. The young Brazilian Piazon was a real handful and when he found countryman Oscar, Chris Herd fouled and a penalty was given.
Oscar took it and rattled his shot high into the net.
You could tell it was not going to be the end of the scoring.
Chelsea were loving it and Villa were out on their feet.
Eden Hazard exchanged passes with Piazon and cracked in a screamer to make it seven.
In doing so Chelsea had set a new Premier League mark of having seven different scorers.
Piazon was fouled by Clark for another penalty but the lad blotted his copybook when the spot-kick was saved by Guzan.
No matter, there was still time for one more as Ramires side-footed into the top corner from 12 yards in added time.
Chelsea are 11 points behind leaders United with a game in hand and do not consider themselves out of the title race.
Imagine if Rafa pulled that off.
DREAM TEAM
STAR MAN — LAMPARD (CHELSEA)
CHELSEA: Cech 6, Azpilicueta 7, Ivanovic 7, Cahill 7, Cole 7, Luiz 8, Lampard 8 (Ramires 7), Moses 7, Mata 8 (Piazon 7), Hazard 8, Torres 7 (Oscar 7). Subs not used: Turnbull, Ferreira, Marin, Ake.
ASTON VILLA: Guzan 5, Herd 4, Clark 4, Baker 4, Lowton 5, Bannan 4, Westwood 4 (Ireland 5), Lichaj 4 (Bennett 5), Weimann 6, Holman 4 (Bowery 5), Benteke 5. Subs not used: Given, El Ahmadi, Albrighton, Delph.
REF: P Dowd 7
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Express:
FRANK LAMPARD BREAKS RECORD IN ROMP
By Tony Banks
FRANK LAMPARD wrote himself into the history books last night as he led Chelsea to an 8-0 romp against hapless Aston Villa.
The 34-year-old, set to leave the club at the end of this season after not being offered a new contract, hit Chelsea’s fourth goal – and that made him the club’s highest-ever top-flight scorer.
Chelsea tore a feeble Villa apart at Stamford Bridge as goals from Fernando Torres, David Luiz, Branislav Ivanovic, Lampard, Oscar with a penalty, Eden Hazard and two from Ramires inflicted the heaviest-ever defeat on the Midlanders.
Lampard, after his 500th Premier League start, has now hit 190 Chelsea goals. Of those, 130 have come in the league – one ahead of Bobby Tambling’s top-flight tally. Tambling’s total Chelsea goal-count stands at a club-record 202.
Lampard said: “It’s a record that means I’m old! But it means a lot. I’m very proud to beat a great man like Bobby Tambling.
“We showed a great appetite out there. The early goal obviously helped us. But we are enjoying playing again.”
As far as his contract situation went, Lampard said: “I’m not concentrating that far. I’m going to continue game by game and I’m just happy to be fit.”
Delighted Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez said: “I always said that the main thing is to win our games. You can see the team improving.
“But yes, we can still improve on this. I can guarantee we can still work on things. We will try to be as close as possible to the leaders. You can see the mentality of this team – even after six goals they were still pushing forward for more.
“But we will see if we can challenge for the title after two or three more games. Now we have to sustain this run and it will be easier for me to say we can compete. The rest of the teams already knew that Chelsea were a top side before, and still are. Maybe they will be more careful playing against us.”
Shattered Villa manager Paul Lambert, whose club suffered their worst defeat in their illustrious 138-year history, said: “I’m not going to sit here and make excuses. We were well beaten and second-best all over the pitch.”
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Star:
CHELSEA 8 - ASTON VILLA 0: BENITEZ IS FEELING GR-EIGHT
by Paul Brown
CHRISTMAS came early for Rafa Benitez as Chelsea exploded for their biggest win since 2010.
They won 8-0 against Wigan on Sunday May 9 to clinch the title on the last day of the season – and repeated that scoreline yesterday.
Fernando Torres, David Luiz, Branislav Ivanovic and Frank Lampard all scored, before Ramires hit two off the bench, with Oscar and Eden Hazard also scoring late goals.
Unbelievably, it could have been more against a truly awful Aston Villa side but for Brad Guzan, who made a string of stops and even saved a penalty.
Villa had gone six unbeaten before this but victory lifted Chelsea up to third, and did wonders for their goal difference, too. It is now the equal of both Manchester clubs.
It was a day when virtually everything went right for Benitez.
Torres continued his scoring run, Lampard got back among the goals on his 500th Premier League start – and both men got a rest at the end as the subs completed the rout.
Chelsea have now scored 13 goals in two games since they came home from the Club World Cup in Japan. Title contenders? You bet they are.
They started the game 14 points behind the Premier League leaders after Manchester United’s 1-1 draw at Swansea.
But the gap is now 11, and the Blues have a game in hand.
The last time they played here they went out of the Champions League, despite thrashing Nordsjaelland 6-1.
Then they blew their chance to become world champions against Corinthians in Japan last weekend. But it has been all plain sailing since their return after Wednesday’s 5-1 win at Leeds in the Capital One Cup quarter-finals.
Benitez actually went into the game looking for only his second league win in five since taking over from sacked fans favourite Roberto Di Matteo. But boy did he get it! No-one saw it coming either. The Blues were facing a Villa team in the middle of a purple patch.
Only a few weeks ago it was hard to see the Midlands men surviving this season.
But they are also in the Capital One Cup semi-finals – and their season exploded into life under Paul Lambert with a 3-1 win at Liverpool last weekend.
It was a miserable start for the visitors, though. Chelsea were ahead in the third minute and it was that man Torres again.
He now has seven goals in his last six games. Not bad for a player who is still widely regarded as a flop.
This one was a peach. Cesar Azpilicueta swung in the cross and Torres got across his fl at-footed marker, Ciaran Clark, to power home a venomous effort with his head from 15 yards.
Then it was another much-maligned Chelsea player’s turn to get among the goals. Luiz has been called everything from a PlayStation footballer to Sideshow Bob.
But Cristiano Ronaldo would have been proud of his 29th-minute free-kick.
Villa already looked beaten – and it only got worse a few minutes later when Ivanovic headed home after Guzan could only parry Gary Cahill’s shot on the turn from a Juan Mata corner.
It wasn’t so long ago that Chelsea under Benitez were struggling to score goals. Now look at them.
They had not even played that well, but were well worth their 3-0 lead at half-time.
Maybe that says more about how bad Villa were.
Only a wonder save from Guzan after the break prevented Mata making it four after more good work from Torres. However, Guzan could do nothing about Lampard’s strike in the 58th minute as the England midfielder smashed his 25-yard shot into the bottom corner.
That prompted cries of “Sign him up!” from Blues fans still worried Lampard could be on his way, but it was his last act before Benitez substituted him.
Amazingly, Villa then hit the bar when Petr Cech got a touch on a shot by Andreas Weimann. It was the only time they ever looked like scoring.
Lucas Piazon stepped off the bench to set up fellow sub Ramires with his first touch.
Then another sub got into the act when Oscar scored a penalty after being fouled by Chris Herd before Hazard hit No.7.
Then Guzan saved a spot-kick from Piazon, who had won it after a foul by Clark.
But poor Villa still ended up conceding an eighth when Ramires broke through to score his second of the game.
By then, merciless Blues fans were rubbing Villa noses in it by chanting, “You should have gone Christmas shopping.”
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