Chelsea sealed top spot in Group G of the Champions League courtesy of an emphatic 5-0 victory over Schalke 04 at the Veltins Arena this evening.
John Terry opened the scoring inside two minutes, while a Willian strike and a Jan Kirchhoff own goal handed the visitors an unassailable lead by half time.
Substitutes Didier Drogba and Ramires added the gloss for Chelsea with two goals in the space of as many second-half minutes, ensuring that Roberto Di Matteo endured a miserable night against his former employers.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at a one-sided encounter in Gelsenkirchen.
Match statistics
SCHALKE
Shots: 8
On target: 3
Possession: 43%
Corners: 4
Fouls: 9
CHELSEA
Shots: 13
On target: 8
Possession: 57%
Corners: 6
Fouls: 10
Was the result fair?
Absolutely. Chelsea dominated this match from the very first whistle to the last, and the five-goal winning margin does not flatter them in the slightest. Indeed, it could have easily been more and Schalke would not have been able to complain at all. They were completely outclassed tonight.
It may have been a different game had Schalke's deflected effort looped in rather than striking the crossbar, but that was the only time that Chelsea were really worried. Aside from that they controlled proceedings in both halves, preventing Schalke from having any sort of purple patch in which they looked like scoring.
Schalke's performance
The hosts would have fancied their chances of getting something out of this game having not been beaten at home yet this season, but they were comprehensively thrashed by a much better team tonight. They were outclassed in every area of the field and, in truth, were lucky to get away with just a 5-0 hammering.
Defensively they did themselves no favours, with the first three goals being very avoidable. The Chelsea attackers were on form and made things tough for the hosts, but that is no excuse for the poor play that resulted in the second and third goals in particular. Up front, they did manage to hit the crossbar, but that was about all you can say for their offensive performance.
In the build-up to this match, Di Matteo insisted that he was not out for revenge against Chelsea, but he may be now. His side were embarrassed this evening and, while credit must go to Chelsea for such a dominant display, the Bundesliga side were certainly far short of their best as well.
Chelsea's performance
Chelsea have put in a number of impressive performances during what is now a 19-match unbeaten run to start the season, but this may well be the best of the lot. Jose Mourinho's side took complete control of the game from start to finish despite the likes of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund having been unable to win at the Veltins Arena already this season.
They were superb in every area of the field, with each player doing his job effectively. The defence didn't get too many chances to earn their keep, but the midfield and attackers were magnificent tonight. They hounded the Schalke defence at every turn and forced a number of mistakes as well as creating their own chances.
Mourinho wanted his side to book their place in the knockout stages as early as possible, and this was the perfect way to bounce back from a disappointing result at Maribor in their last Champions League game. There will be tougher tests to come this season, but performances like this suggest that they are capable of going all the way and lifting the trophy in May.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Willian: Take your pick. Diego Costa was brilliant, Eden Hazard was a constant threat, Nemanja Matic was majestic and Cesc Fabregas pulled the strings. This award could quite easily go to six or seven different players in the Chelsea side tonight. However, Willian gets the nod having got his name on the scoresheet as well as leading a number of counter-attacks for his side, creating plenty of chances in the process. His decision-making was less than perfect on occasions, but it was a superb performance overall from the Brazilian.
Biggest gaffe
Again there are multiple contenders for this one. Ralf Fahrmann perhaps could have done better for the first goal and certainly should have kept the second out, but it was the Kirchhoff own goal that was the biggest error of the game. Schalke had defenders queuing up to clear the ball from a corner but Kirchhoff, who was the only one facing the wrong way, planted his header into his own net to put the game well and truly beyond doubt just before half time.
Referee performance
Jonas Eriksson had a quiet game today. The Swede had no major decisions to make and only produced one yellow card throughout the entire 90 minutes.
What next?
Schalke: Schalke need to pick themselves up from this defeat in time for the visit of Mainz on Saturday.
Chelsea: Chelsea, meanwhile, travel to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland on Saturday.
Barney Corkhill
