Chelsea produced their best first-half performance under Mauricio Pochettino to beat Everton 6-0 and close the gap on eighth-placed West Ham with seven games to end the season.
Cole Palmer helped himself to a perfect hat trick plus one goal and announced himself as the new king of Stamford Bridge by becoming the first Chelsea player to bag 20 goals in a season since one Eden Hazard.
Top players have the x-factor and Palmer has that, he’s able to create goals, score and change games which without a doubt has made him the best signing of the £1billion project at Stamford Bridge. His class told again when he picked up the ball and played in Marc Cucurella who set up Nicolas Jackson for 4-0 in the first half.
Everton normally don't win at Stamford Bridge, the last time they did was in 1994, John Major was the Prime Minister back then and he was a Chelsea fan, but they would not have expected to be battered like were in that first half.
This was an incredibly supreme performance with the only blot being when there was a scuffle between Nicholas Jackson and NonI Madueke on who should take the penalty won by Madueke, in the end, Conor Gallagher intervened and gave it to Palmer who sent the goalkeeper wrong way for his fourth goal and Chelsea fifth of the night.
That strike took Palmer to 20 goals for the season, the same as Manchester City goal-scoring machine Erling Haaland.
In the final minutes of what was a completely dominant performance, Thiago Silva’s name rang around the stadium as the team was applauded off by the 39,392 fans packed in at Stanford Bridge. There was still time for Alfie Gilchrist to score his first goal for the club and condemn Everton to the worst defeat of the season.
Here is how we rated the Chelsea players out there on the chilly spring night:
1. Djordje Petrovic- 6
Quiet game. Saved all that came his way including a corner that looked to catch him out.
2. Thiago Silva-7
Used his experience and organised the backline so much it didn't even look like he was trying.
3. Trevoh Chalobah- 7
Nothing got past him. He won't get the plaudit but he was solid all game.
4. Malo Gusto- 7
A shaky start but then recovered to enjoy a terrific game. He's really made good use of the opportunity that was created by the injury to Reece James.