Mason Mount netted his first hat-trick for Chelsea in a 7-0 rout of 10-man Norwich.
Before Saturday, the England midfielder had not scored for his club this season, but he helped himself to a maiden senior treble at Stamford Bridge as Thomas Tuchel’s dominant side went four points clear at the top.
Chelsea did not lack goals in the absence of injured strikers Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner, with Ben Chilwell continuing his prolific recent run and fellow defender Reece James also notching a stylish effort, while Ben Gibson was sent off for rock-bottom Norwich.
It’s Chelsea’s biggest win under Tuchel so far, and their biggest margin of victory since putting eight past Aston Villa without reply in 2012.
Chelsea were rampant from the start with Kai Havertz leading the line as one of five changes from the 4-0 Champions League thrashing of Malmo. Jorginho – wearing the captain’s armband with Cesar Azpilicueta on the bench – and Antonio Rudiger posed early questions before Mount put them ahead after just eight minutes.
Hudson-Odoi broke down the left flank, and his initial cross was deflected by Gibson as far as Jorginho, who teed up his midfield colleague for a fizzing low drive from 20 yards that beat Tim Krul.
Hudson-Odoi quickly followed up with his first goal of the season, collecting a brilliant, defence-splitting pass from Mateo Kovacic and keeping his cool to beat Krul with a confident low finish.
Norwich were unable to get close to Chelsea or keep a foot on the ball to relieve the pressure, with Mount testing Krul once more and Rudiger’s ambitious shot being blocked.
After Hudson-Odoi was caught in possession, ex-Liverpool loanee Ozan Kabak lashed over at the other end, but it was a rare blip for the Blues, who added a third before the break.
Mount expertly played the fit-again James in behind and proceeded to expertly dink the ball over Krul to add to the misery.
On the stroke of half-time, Mount curled an effort agonizingly over the top, almost doubling Chelsea’s lead.
After a rogue Chilwell backpass, Norwich made two half-time changes and initially improved after the break, with one of those substitutes – Kosovan forward Milot Rashica – forcing Edouard Mendy into a fine block.
Chilwell – who also scored for England during the international break – scored for the fourth game in a row, cutting across the ball expertly and picking out the bottom corner.
Hudson-cross Odoi’s from the left was deflected past a scrambling Krul by Max Aarons, who scored the fifth goal shortly after the fourth.
Things went from bad to worse for Norwich when a frustrated Gibson received his second yellow card in nine minutes, taking out James and giving him his marching orders.
With 25 minutes remaining, Norwich was 5-0 down and down to ten men, and the game quickly resembled pure Chelsea target practice.
Krul went above and beyond to deny subs Ross Barkley, Hakim Ziyech, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, even saving Mount’s poor spot-kick after a VAR check resulted in a penalty against Mathias Normann, who clearly blocked Rudiger’s shot with his arm.
However, Krul was discovered to have encroached, prompting a re-take, with Mount’s second unconvincing attempt squirming in off the goalkeeper’s shin.
In stoppage time, Mount completed his hat-trick and a memorable day for Chelsea after Ziyech and Loftus-Cheek combined to great effect.
