BANG, BANG, BANG; UNSTOPPABLE CHELSEA ARE ON FIRE

Last five premier league games, zero goals conceded, sixteen goals scored, Eden Hazard in the form of his life, Diego Costa devouring any prey coming his way. Indeed the stats make for ominous reading for the Blues rivals; is there any stopping Chelsea? Even the cleverest of sages will struggle to find the answer to that. Chelsea are flying high, and the scary part for the chasing pack is, this could be just the beginning of greater things to come.

Roaring to victory; Chelsea blitzed Everton 5-nil to move temporarily to the top of the English Premier League table, on twenty-five points

Reborn; Eden Hazard notched a brace on the night. The chelsea attacker looks a different player from the pale struggling figure of last season

 Hazard rifled Chelsea into the lead, to bag his fourth goal of the campaign. Another later on would earn him his fifth.

 Summer signing, Marcos Alonso, scored Chelsea's second

 Diego Costa scored his ninth goal of the camopaign to put Chelsea three nil up

Working in tandem; Eden Hazard (pictured right) and Diego Costa (left) have been central to Chelsea's brilliant form in the league

Antonio Conte's well drilled team has brought back beaming smiles on the faces of the blue army. Akin to a commander in battle, his stratagem is swatting aside opponents, like a pair of scissors tearing through paper. This show on display, was box office stuff, football at its best, enamoured with entertainment, goals flowing through, defence rock solid, Chelsea—apart from Liverpool, and arguably Arsenal—are very much the in-form team of the English premier league. The days of being destroyed 3-nil by Arsenal and held to a 2-2 draw at Swansea, seem like a distant memory. Juxtaposing this performance—a five nil spanking of Everton—with the aforementioned ones, the gulf in class couldn't have been more glaring, how far back indeed. 

In unison as a team; Chelsea (with coach Antonio Conte pictured) celebrate  against Everton

Smile back on; A number of Chelsea stars have returned to peak form, under coach Antonio Conte's guidance

On a cool and cosy evening at the bridge, Chelsea breezed through their opponents. Wave upon wave of attacks followed, scintillating football pleasing to the eyes and soothing to the soul, Everton were left helpless—gasping for breath at times—as Chelsea's intensity, solidity and fluidity proved just too much to handle. Prior to kickoff, Chelsea were unbeaten in their last twenty-one premier league games, at home against Everton—make that twenty-two—winning eleven and drawing ten, since a 0-1 loss in 1994. That statistic was never in danger of being quashed.

It took just nineteen minutes for the floodgates to be opened. Everton midfielder Gareth Barry lost possession, Costa fed Hazard, who rifled low into the bottom right corner, for his fifth league goal of the season, scoring in a fourth consecutive league game for the first time in his career. That's a coach's impact. Is a manager somewhere in the red half of Manchester watching? After his travails last season, Eden Hazard has truly turned the corner.

  Reveling in victory; Eden Hazard celebrates his strike against Everton

Sensing blood, Chelsea went for the jugular. One soon turned two, as Marcos Alonso doubled the lead—ably assisted by the reborn Pedro—And two turned three. This was no magic, but the awesomeness of Chelsea's display made it look so at times. Diego Costa left criminally unmarked by the Everton defenders, tucked home his ninth goal of the season, and fourth against Everton since his move to England—oh my, he loves scoring against them so much—In truth, to describe Everton's defensive display as shambolic, would be a huge compliment to them in every sense of the word—this was school-boy defending on show—But make no mistake, it owed more to Chelsea's splendid and sometimes breathtaking attacking brilliance, than Everton shooting themselves in the foot. At halftime, the 3-nil scoreline in favour of Chelsea, was flattering to their opponents—with outstanding wing-back, Victor Moses, rattling the woodwork with a superb volley—such was the nature of Chelsea's dominance. Bewildering

Slumped in defeat; delightful in victory—a tale of two stories—Chelsea drubbed Everton five-nil at Stamford bridge

Change of guard; Captain John Terry (left) came on for fellow defender, Gary Cahill (right), and took on the armband in the dying stages of the match against Everton

Like Oliver Twist, always asking for more, Chelsea kicked on from where they left off in the first-half. Shell-shocked by the manner of Chelsea's superiority, Everton had no response. Further goals from Eden Hazard and Pedro, made it five-nil, and capped off a five star performance. With the absence of mid-week European commitments—unlike their other domestic rivals, bar Liverpool—Chelsea's prospects under Antonio Conte this season, are frightening. They go top of the league, capitalizing fully on the slip up of Manchester city—who were held to a 1-1 draw by Middlesbrough earlier in the day—and pending other results on super Sunday, they might well remain there. Like a farmer slowly but steadily building his barn, ready for the harvest, Chelsea under Conte are rebuilding the broken bridge from last season's woes. 

What a performance; Coach Antonio Conte, congratulates his players at the full time whistle

At this pace, and on this form and evidence, barring any mishaps or complacency, the harvest is certainly not far off. Eden Hazard said post-match that the Blues’ could have scored for. The absolutely truthful nature of the statement is sure to send warning signals to many. When it rains, it pours. Premier league teams beware; red hot Chelsea are on fire.