Chelsea responded in perfect fashion after back-to-back defeats by thrashing Southampton 6-0 following braces from Mason Mount and Timo Werner.
The Blues had been beaten 4-1 at home by Brentford in their last Premier League outing before losing 3-1 to Real Madrid in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.
But any concerns over their form were put to bed with a ruthless display at St Mary’s from the moment Marcos Alonso gave them an eighth-minute lead.
Chelsea were 3-0 up after just 21 minutes and were six in front within an hour as Southampton wilted in the sunshine although at least avoided another 9-0 drubbing.
Mount set up Alonso with a brilliant flick for the opener before the England midfielder struck a sweet effort from the edge of the area which found the corner.
Werner had already hit a post and the crossbar before he raced away from Jan Bednarek, rounded Fraser Forster and slotted into an empty net from an angle for Chelsea’s third.
The striker, back in the starting line-up, then hit the woodwork for a third time in the first half after capitalising on more poor Southampton defending, and the rebound fell to Kai Havertz to tap in.
Forster still had to make saves from Havertz and Rudiger before half-time while Mount went close with a deflected effort. However, Chelsea picked up from where they left off at the start of the second half when Werner converted into an empty net after Forster had saved from Ngolo Kante.
Southampton did go close through Che Adams, who was denied at close range by Edouard Mendy.
Werner was denied a hat-trick by another Forster save but yet again the rebound fell kindly for Mount to tap in for a simple sixth to set Chelsea well and truly back on track.
