Chelsea 7 - 0 Norwich: Canaries left feeling blue at the Bridge

A Mason Mount hat-trick helped Chelsea secure a more-than-comfortable 7-0 win against Norwich City, meaning Manchester United are still the most recent Premier League (PL) table-toppers to lose against the division’s bottom side, having done so in 2011.

Mount hadn’t scored at all this season, but it took him just eight minutes to get Chelsea ahead as he smashed a first-time effort from outside the box into the bottom corner. The visitors had a chance to get back into the game when Thiago Silva’s pass was cut out, but the Brazilian recovered well and within seconds, Callum Hudson-Odoi latched onto a Mateo Kovačić through ball and confidently slotted home for what was also his first of the campaign. The ‘Blues’ continued to dominate and, in the 42nd minute, Reece James got on the end of Mount’s perfectly weighted pass and produced a wonderful flick to lift the ball over Tim Krul and into the net.

Ben Chilwell’s pass being cut out by Teemu Pukki in the 53rd minute allowed ‘Canaries’ substitute Milot Rashica to get behind the Chelsea defence. However, Édouard Mendy did brilliantly to recover and retain his third consecutive clean sheet in all competitions. Just four minutes later, the left-back scored his fourth goal in five games for club and country, drilling the ball across Krul. Things got worse for Norwich just after the hour mark, with the Dutch goalkeeper unable to stop Hudson-Odoi’s cross trickling over the line after it had deflected off Max Aarons. Then, to compound the visitors’ nightmare afternoon, Ben Gibson got sent off for a second yellow card.

Chelsea got a sixth and seventh late on, as Mount scored from the penalty spot at the second attempt before finishing after great work from Ruben Loftus-Cheek. The UEFA Champions League holders can now enjoy another weekend at the top of the PL table. Meanwhile, Norwich are one game away from equalling Swindon Town’s run of 40 consecutive PL games at the bottom excluding season openers, an unwanted record that has stood for 27 years.