Chelsea Dominate Stoke City Behind Balanced Attack in 5-0 Rout

Chelsea cruised to a 5-0 victory over Stoke City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday thanks to goals by Antonio Rudiger, Danny Drinkwater, Pedro, Willian and Davide Zappacosta.

The Blues got off to the perfect start with goals by Rudiger and a cracker by Drinkwater that put them 2-0 up with less than 10 minutes on the clock.

A third by Pedro midway through the first half killed off the game before second-half strikes by Willian and Zappacosta added gloss to the scoreline.

Antonio Conte made changes to his side, dropping Eden Hazard to the bench and handing Drinkwater a start.

Stoke made six changes thanks in part to captain Ryan Shawcross' calf injury and with Kurt Zouma ineligible to play against his parent club. Mark Hughes brought teenagers Thomas Edwards and Josh Tymon into the defence and left key man Xherdan Shaqiri on the bench.

Miguel Delaney of The Independent shared the lineups:

The hosts took full advantage of Stoke's inexperienced back line, with Rudiger heading them in front after just three minutes. Willian swung a free-kick into the box, and the German rose highest to head the ball past goalkeeper Jack Butland.

Chelsea doubled their lead six minutes later, as Drinkwater scored his first Chelsea goal in some style. A Pedro cross was deflected into the midfielder's path, and he controlled it before firing into the top corner from 25 yards.

Goal's Nizaar Kinsella felt there is much more to come from the 27-year-old:

Chelsea continued to dominate and ought to have extended their lead when Pedro sent Alvaro Morata clean through, but his shot was saved by Butland.

The Blues did not have to wait too long for their third, however, as it duly arrived from Pedro. Willian found his team-mate, who beat Tymon before whipping the ball past Butland.

Simon Johnson of the Evening Standard said some Stoke fans had seen enough:

Chelsea continued to dominate the game with Stoke putting up little fight, as Delaney illustrated:

The tempo dropped slightly towards the end of the first half, and Stoke got the ball in the back of the net through Mame Diouf only to see it correctly ruled out for handball.

Both sides had chances after the break, with Saido Berahino denied by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois after being played through on goal. Morata was also guilty of wasting a good opportunity, as he could only shoot straight at Butland before the Stoke goalkeeper also saved a stinging shot from Pedro.

Kinsella said Morata's goal record could be better this season:

Conte opted to make changes in the second half, taking off Victor Moses, N'Golo Kante and Morata, presumably with one eye on Wednesday's trip to Arsenal. The Blues still managed to extend their lead, however, as Willian netted a penalty after Geoff Cameron brought down the Brazilian.

Squawka Football showed Willian seems to enjoy playing Stoke:

There was still time for another goal, and substitute Zappacosta obliged two minutes before stoppage time, picking up a poor clearance from Tymon and smashing home to seal an emphatic win.