When Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich decided that the time was right to part company with Jose Mourinho in September 2007, he was believed to have grown frustrated with what he deemed to be a too often turgid style of football.
Abramovich had fallen in love with football on a night in 2003 when Manchester United defeated Real Madrid 4-3 at Old Trafford, with the Brazilian Ronaldo scoring a hat-trick. The Russian billionaire wanted to see similar entertainment from his West London outfit.
While outwardly he may not have displayed it as he sat in his executive box at Stamford Bridge seven years ago today, Abramovich must have been delighted with the performance that Chelsea, now managed by Avram Grant, produced when Manchester City made the trip to the capital.
It took the hosts just 16 minutes to break the deadlock when Frank Lampard's low pass released Michael Essien and the Ghanaian's cross-goal effort got the better of Joe Hart.
Lampard was then again heavily involved as the lead was doubled in the 31st minute. It was the England midfielder's pass with the outside of his right boot that picked out Didier Drogba, who emphatically beat Hart with a powerful strike. After the restart, the same duo were involved as Drogba made it 3-0 with a half-volley.
On the hour mark, Drogba turned provider as his downward header set Joe Cole free to score a fourth goal, while Salomon Kalou made it 5-0 from a narrow angle.
The scoring was completed in the 90th minute when Andriy Shevchenko nipped in on the blindside of Micah Richards and then slotted a shot underneath an advancing Hart.
Speaking after the match, Mourinho's replacement Grant said: "In the last month we have improved in every match. The players want to be better and have shown full commitment to positive football and winning - there are no big secrets behind this.
"We will enjoy this but we are in the middle of the process and want to continue it. I don''t think we will win many games 6-0. Manchester City are not an easy team to beat but we made it easier. We moved like we needed to and played our football. The fans know now we are trying to play positive football."
Meanwhile, his opposite number Sven-Goran Eriksson added: "We forgot how to defend. If you give a team like Chelsea space and time that will happen. It was very bad defending from our side - we have to be much better than that.
"It has been a good story so far this season but I'm sorry for the fans who travelled here. There were a lot of them here, they wanted to see us play good football - not see us lose like we did. People are talking about us playing good football but you have to defend and be very aggressive. If you don't do that against a team like Chelsea this happens."
CHELSEA: Cech; Belletti, Carvalho, Alex, Ferreira; J Cole (Shevchenko), Essien, Lampard, Mikel; Kalou, Drogba (Pizarro)
MAN CITY: Hart; Corluka, Dunne, Richards, Garrido; Ireland (Vassell), Hamann (Ball), Johnson, Petrov, Elano (Bianchi); Samaras
Liam Apicella
