Chelsea strolled to their biggest ever Champions League victory this evening, thrashing Slovenian side Maribor 6-0 at Stamford Bridge to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
Loic Remy opened the scoring for the hosts before Didier Drogba doubled the lead from the penalty spot - his first goal for the club since netting in the 2012 Champions League final.
John Terry made it 3-0 before half time, while Mitja Viler scored an own goal and Agim Ibraimi missed a penalty to pile the misery on the visitors.
Eden Hazard then converted the third spot kick of the night before completing his brace in the dying stages with a classy finish to make it 6-0.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at a memorable night in West London.
Match statistics
CHELSEA
Shots: 17
On target: 10
Possession: 58%
Corners: 6
Fouls: 11
MARIBOR
Shots: 9
On target: 3
Possession: 42%
Corners: 3
Fouls: 10
Was the result fair?
Absolutely. The emphatic nature of the scoreline does not flatter Chelsea at all this evening, and it could have been even more had they really pushed on in the second half. The hosts were in complete control from start to finish, and even at 2-0 you felt that there was no way back for Maribor.
In fairness to the visitors, they had a lot of bad luck tonight. Both penalties awarded to Chelsea were very soft, while Terry's third before the break was just offside. They also missed a penalty of their own as Ibraimi hit the post and scored an own goal, but even without all that bad fortune they would have been well beaten tonight.
It was not a case of the visitors playing badly tonight, rather Chelsea simply being too good for them and controlling everything about the game. The stats are not as one-sided as the match itself was, and the scoreline is a much more accurate assessment of how the 90 minutes went.
Chelsea's performance
The last time Chelsea played in the Champions League, their performance had everything apart from the killer touch. Tonight, they added that ruthless streak to make it an almost perfect display. The hosts were better than their opponents in every single area of the field, and they were in complete control from the very first whistle.
At half time, the big question was whether Jose Mourinho would be content with having won the game in the first half, as he so often is. However, the Portuguese manager allowed his team to press on and, while they weren't quite all-out attack against a side that were there for a taking, they certainly exercised their dominance effectively.
The only downside to the match will be the injury to Remy, who limped off shortly after opening the scoring. With Diego Costa also struggling for fitness right now, that leaves Drogba as the only recognised fit striker going into this weekend's clash with Manchester United. Aside from that, though, Mourinho will be thrilled with how tonight went for his side.
Maribor's performance
There is not too much Ante Simundza can say to his side after this match. Maribor were well and truly swept aside by a much better team tonight, and they can have no complaints at having lost by such a considerable margin. The visitors actually began the match fairly brightly, but the first goal was a major blow and the second almost killed the game off after just 23 minutes.
Often with a scoreline so one-sided, it is a mixture of one team being good and the other being bad. On this occasion, though, it was much more about Chelsea being good. Granted, Maribor were easier to break down than they have been in their other Champions League matches this season, but lesser teams would not have punished the visitors anywhere near as badly.
As mentioned above, Maribor did not exactly have luck on their side tonight. The first penalty did strike Ales Mertelj on the hand, but he was so close to Willian that it was very harsh to award a spot kick. Similarly, there seemed to be very little contact on Branislav Ivanovic when he went to ground for the second penalty. A missed penalty, own goal and wrong offside call also contributed in no small part to the defeat, but there is no doubt that the visitors were comfortably second best tonight.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Eden Hazard: A number of Chelsea players impressed tonight, but the brightest of them all was Hazard. The Belgian gave the Maribor defence a torrid time all evening, making numerous runs down the flanks and into the area with his quick feet. His penalty was very well taken, while the sixth goal to cap off the scoring was the pick of the bunch. A very impressive display from the winger.
Biggest gaffe
Perhaps the biggest gaffe of the game was Viler's own goal 10 minutes into the second half, although the defender was unfortunate to turn Hazard's cross into his net. Nemanja Matic conceded a clumsy penalty for Chelsea, although that had no bearing on the result, while the referee also deserves a mention for two contentious penalty decisions for the hosts.
Referee performance
Danny Makkelie was making his Champions League debut as a referee tonight, and he certainly had a busy evening. You can see why he gave two penalties to Chelsea, although both decisions were harsh and could have easily been ignored. Maribor's spot kick was a stone-waller as Matic bundled into Ibraimi from behind, and the Dutch official got that one right, so it was a mixed bag from him tonight.
What next?
Chelsea: Next up for Chelsea is a trip to face Manchester United at Old Trafford as they look to extend their unbeaten start in the Premier League to nine matches.
Maribor: Maribor, meanwhile, will need to pick themselves up in time for their trip to face Zavrc on Saturday.
Barney Corkhill
