Swansea City 0 Chelsea 5
Chelsea turned on a dazzling display to overwhelm a sorry Swansea side yesterday, who did not help their cause with some kamikaze defending and have now not won in four Premier League matches. The game was all over as a spectacle long before the second-half began, as Jose Mourinho's title favourites marched into a four goal lead and with it, a five point advantage over rivals Manchester City was temporarily secured. City can reduce the deficit on Sunday when they play their game in hand against Arsenal at the Etihad.
Both the Brazilian Oscar and the Blues' striking sensation Diego Costa helped themselves to doubles, in a first forty-five minutes that Swansea's manager Garry Monk and the rest of the players would surely prefer to forget, but surely had Mourinho purring his satisfaction from the side lines.
The home side were behind inside the first minute, after a mislaid pass by Gylfi Sigurdsson beckoned Oscar in on goal and his 20-yard shot fizzed past Lukasz Fabianski. The errant Icelander tried to make amends at the other end straight after, but his shot rebounded to safety off a post.
Costa enjoys his time against the Swans, having already scored a hat-trick in the home fixture this season, and decided to join the party on 20 minutes. Following a flowing passing move by Chelsea, his usual assistant Cesc Fabregas again played him in for a close-range goal. It was almost three when Willian hit the post with a shot soon afterwards, but the visitor's only had to wait until the 34th minute to make that mark.
Costa capitalized on a 'blind' back pass by Federico Fernandez to finish with his normal assurance. Two minutes later it was four for Chelsea, as Oscar matched his Spanish team mate with a clinical right-footed strike into the top corner. There was just time for Willian to hit the woodwork again before the break, as the crowd began to sense that a cricket score was possible, should the away side decide to really turn it on in the second period.
In truth, the second-half was a good deal less entertaining and perhaps just as well for the Welsh side, although Oscar came agonisingly close to his hat-trick as his shot skimmed the outside of the post. Chelsea did have their fifth though when World Cup winner Andre Schurrle tapped in on 79 minutes, following a Branislav Ivanovic cut back, as the team once again tore the defence apart. Oscar was queuing up behind the German, but would have to wait for that hat-trick another day, as the Blues go marching on.
