Chelsea 4-1 Sheffield: The one that made a statement

The scene was set for a stumble. Bottom of the Premier League Sheffield United had not won a match since the last time they faced Chelsea. Inside ten minutes David McGoldrick had fired the Blades into the lead. The man has scored a total of four Premier League goals ever -- and three of them have come against the Blues. Cheers Arsenal for taking the edge off...

There was a sense of deja vu in the opening stages of this match. But with all those new faces buzzing about the pitch they weren't going to suffer the same fate as their teammates last season.

Rather than heads going down, McGoldrick's shock opener seemed to galvanise Chelsea to get their collective act together. It was like they remembered that they were facing a side that were struggling and decided to put them to the sword. No pun intended. 

Tammy Abraham has only scored more goals against Wolves and Forest than he has against Sheffield United. So it was only right for the youngster to find the equaliser. Great work from Hakim Ziyech to find Mateo Kovacic in the build up. Not the most cleanly hit strike but a solid goal nonetheless.

Did Ben Chilwell mean to score the go-ahead goal? Debatable. He has since admitted himself that he didn't realise it had even crossed the line until he looked up at saw Abraham laughing at him. Ziyech played in another beautiful ball and as Chilwell did his best to avoid a collision with the post and Aaron Ramsdale he managed to bundle it across the line. 'When you get on the back post, you make your own luck.'

The goal seemed to demoralise Chris Wilder's side. The fight they had in them at kick-off dissipated as Chelsea took full control of the match. Having scored just four goals all season and taking just a single point, this was a team severely lacking in confidence. Surprising given their exceptional run last season.

Hakim Ziyech was once again paramount to Chelsea's third goal. The Moroccan whipped in an incredible ball into Sheffield United's box to find actual Thiago Silva. Thanks in part to a clever block from Kurt Zouma, the Brazilian captain rises highest to score his first Premier League goal. No one enjoyed the goal more than Reece James who sung 'ooohhh Thiago Silva' in celebration.

Timo Werner missed a golden opportunity to put Hakim Ziyech on a hat-trick of assists. The playmaker could only laugh in disbelief. The German quickly made up for his faux pas by netting moments later. But it was N'Golo Kante picking up the assist.

Easily Chelsea's best performance of the season with new signings making things happen everywhere on the pitch. Frank Lampard could not have asked for a better response to conceding early. And it's a great way to head into the international break. Hopefully, this is just the start of things to come.

jb x

RESULT: Chelsea 4-1 Sheffield United

GOALS: McGoldrick 9, Abraham 23, Chilwell 34, Thiago Silva 77, Werner 80

CHELSEA XI: Mendy, James, Zouma, Thiago Silva, Chilwell, Kovacic (Jorginho 71), Kante, Mount, Ziyech, Werner (Giroud 87), Abraham

STAR MAN: Hakim Ziyech