Chelsea 6-0 Barnsley: The one King Kai scored his first ever hat-trick

If ever there was a perfect tonic for a slightly de-moralising defeat, it would be playing lower league opposition. In the Cup. At Stamford Bridge. Occasionally those teams will rock up with a swash-buckling swagger infused from the freedom of lack of expectation. This was not one of those times.

Not to undermine anyone's performance on Wednesday night, but Barnsley did offer as much help as possible. Four of their players were dinged with errors that led directly to goal. If felt as if they were trying to get the match over with as quickly as possible - forgetting that in fact, they would have to play out the full ninety no matter the scoreline.

For anyone worried about what would happen to the youngsters that won over hearts last season for Chelsea with all these new faces need not worry. Tammy Abraham showed not only was he able to rise to the challenge but integrate virtually seamlessly with some of the new faces. He may have opened the scoring but it was his link up play with Kai Havertz that really stood out. Which should give Frank Lampard more attacking headaches options than he may have anticipated.

One of Chelsea's new Germans has won over fans with his tireless runs and ruthlessness inside the box, the other has bizarrely drawn a large amount of criticism and questions after just two appearances. Timo Werner had a lot more time with his new teammates throughout pre-season and Project Restart even if he wasn't allowed to play. Kai Havertz had just a couple of days before making his debut.

Havertz is easily one of the most exciting young players across Europe. And while facing a distinctly distracted Championship side, his class showed through. Clever runs and cool finishes were a hallmark of this performance and potentially of things to come throughout the season. It was the perfect answer to the misguided critics who questioned how he could possibly fit in Frank Lampard's Chelsea side.

Thiago Silva was handed his much anticipated debut to marshal Chelsea's dodgy back line. It'd difficult to really assess how effective he was - no offence to Barnsley. But Chelsea did manage to keep a clean sheet having faced 14 shots. Special mention to his defensive partner Fikayo Tomori who was kept markedly busier ensuring attacking play was built out from the back and completed more passes than any other player on the pitch.

While youth and new faces were the order of the day, it would be remiss of me to not mention a brilliant cameo from that handsome Frenchman Olivier Giroud. The game didn't need changed by the time he came on at 5-0 to the good. But he continues to offer something just a little different up front. It was a good reminder to Frank Lampard that he is an asset. Before getting on the end of a great ball in from Ben Chilwell, Giroud showed his unselfish side and could have had not one but two assists had it not been for a pair of shocking misses from Mason Mount and Ross Barkley.

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RESULT: Chelsea 6-0 Barnsley

GOALS: Abraham 19, Havertz 28, Barkley 49, Havertz 55, Havertz 65, Giroud 83

CHELSEA XI: Caballero, Azpilicueta, Tomori, Thiago Silva (Zouma 61), Emerson, Barkley, Kovacic, Hudson-Odoi, Havertz (Chilwell 66), Mount, Abraham (Giroud 72)

STAR MAN: Kai Havertz