Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca lavished praise on his side for their professional performance against Armenian side FC Noah in the Europa Conference League.
The Blues dismantled the Armenians at Stamford Bridge, steamrolling to a commanding 8-0 win to maintain their excellent start to the Conference League campaign.
Despite entering the game on the back of a two-game winless streak, Chelsea were overwhelming favourites against Noah and lived up to expectations in spectacular fashion.
A quickfire double from Tosin Adarabioyo and Marc Guiu gave the Blues a two-goal lead early on, setting the tone for the rest of the game.
Axel Disasi extended the lead to 3-0 before Joao Felix netted a brace on either side of a stunning strike from Mykhaylo Mudryk as Chelsea went into the half-time interval with a 6-0 lead.
The Blues created more chances in the second half but prioritised controlling the game, although Christopher Nkunku also got in on the act, scoring a brace to take his tally to ten goals this season.
Maresca described the game as a tricky one, given that his side had to deal with the expectation of being favourites, but he was ‘very impressed’ with how they handled the occasion.
He said (via BBC Live): “Tricky game because everyone expected us to win, but you have to be serious, professional, and the most important thing is they showed how serious and professional they are.
“Very impressed, especially because we are trying to change players every game. It works well. We have good players, and we want them to get minutes.
“We are in the right direction, and now the most important thing is to continue.”
Chelsea’s rout has set the record for the biggest win in the Conference League, and they’ll be keen to keep their goalscoring boot on when they take on Arsenal in a huge Premier League London derby this weekend.
Stats from Sofascore.com