Chelsea 6 West Brom 0: Full time report

Aug 14 2010

Double winners Chelsea fired an early warning to their Barclays Premier League title rivals as Didier Drogba smashed a hat-trick in their opening-day thrashing of new boys West Brom at Stamford Bridge.

Florent Malouda set the Blues on their way after only six minutes, with Drogba's free-kick extending the lead on the stroke of half-time.

It was more one-way traffic after the restart, as the Ivory Coast striker netted from close range with Frank Lampard making it 4-0 just after the hour.

Drogba's deflected effort and a last-minute strike from Malouda sealed an emphatic win for the champions, who put last week's 3-1 defeat by Manchester United in the Community Shield at Wembley firmly behind them.

Despite being outplayed, West Brom and their manager Roberto Di Matteo, the former Chelsea midfielder, deserve credit for continuing to display some good passing football, but which tellingly lacked a cutting edge in the final third.

Chelsea had got off to a flying start when they took the lead after only six minutes.

Malouda was tripped by Pablo Ibanez on the edge of the West Brom box.

Keeper Scott Carson spilled Drogba's free-kick straight to John Obi Mikel, whose follow-up effort was blocked. The ball then dropped straight to Malouda, who could not miss.

The champions were in full flow, with Ashley Cole whipping a low ball across the six-yard box after another surge down the left.

However, the conditions worsened, and fit again Chelsea keeper Petr Cech had to be at full stretch to touch away Graham Dorrans' deflected effort.