Jacob Steinberg was at Stamford Bridge. His report has landed. Click away at your leisure. Meanwhile thanks for reading this MBM.
A defiant Daniel Farke talks to BT Sport. “A tough day. We wanted to be on the top of our game but we were not. We were too slow, not sharp enough. For this world-class level, we were not competitive. The players are disappointed, there is no need to punish them even more, they know we made decisions on the pitch that were brutal. It didn’t help that we conceded a red card. It was definitely tough. I told the players before that whatever happens today, if we are celebrating like hell or it’s a tough day in the office, we use the next two days to forget this game, because a loss away against Chelsea is not season-defining for us. We are not overly happy and it is not good for the confidence, but it is not season-defining. We allow ourselves to be disappointed for the next two days, then after that, we keep going.”
A very content Thomas Tuchel speaks to BT. “We had a good performance, we were sharp, and put in a lot of effort. High pressing, many ball wins, very precise in finishing. We had a bit of luck in the momentum, to score seven, but it was a good game. It does not stop! It is one game, but they will have to prove again.” Best of luck to Southampton, who come to Stamford Bridge in the League Cup on Tuesday, then.
That’s Chelsea’s biggest Premier League win since they trounced Aston Villa 8-0 in December 2012. They extend their lead at the top over Liverpool to four points, having given their goal difference a rare old boost. Norwich meanwhile remain marooned at the bottom, with just two points from their first nine games, four shy of safety and with a goal difference of minus 21. It’s already looking like a grim winter in Norfolk.
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FULL TIME: Chelsea 7-0 Norwich City
Top versus bottom, and oh my, did it show.
90 min +3: Chelsea want more! Ziyech is brought down by Aarons, just outside the box on the left, near the byline. The free kick is worked back to Ziyech, who leans back and hoicks over. Blessed relief, of sorts, for Norwich.
GOAL! Chelsea 7-0 Norwich City (Mount 90+1)
That Glenn Hoddle knows what he’s talking about all right, because it’s a hat-trick for Mason Mount! Loftus-Cheek is sprung clear down the right by Kovacic’s lovely dink down the channel. Loftus-Cheek overruns the ball a little as he enters the box, but gets there before Krul to slip a pass infield for Mount, who rolls into the unguarded net.
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90 min: There will be three extra minutes of torture for Norwich City.
89 min: On BT Sport, former Chelsea boss Glenn Hoddle gives Mason Mount the man-of-the-match award.
87 min: Looking on the bright side for Norwich, that twice-taken penalty took the best part of four minutes off the clock.
GOAL! Chelsea 6-0 Norwich City (Mount 85 pen)
Mount drives this one down the middle. This effort’s not that great either, slightly scuffed, and clips Krul’s shin. But in it goes. Six!
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84 min: A little debate between Mount and Barkley, who wants a go. It’ll be Mount again, though.
83 min: Mount sends a really poor spot kick just to Krul’s left. Krul smothers. Awful penalty but great save! However, Krul was off his line. Encroachment. It’ll be retaken.
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Penalty for Chelsea!
82 min: VAR sends the referee to the screen. He changes his mind, as he was always gong to do. Normann is booked for his save. Mount to take.
81 min: Chilwell’s long corner is half cleared. The ball comes back to Rudiger, who steers the ball goalwards. The ball deflects off Normann and out for a corner. Rudiger claims a penalty, but the referee’s not interested. Thing is, though, Normann’s hands were up, and that was a fine diving save. So it’ll surely be given by VAR.
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80 min: Barkley prepares to hit Norwich for six, sent clear down the middle. He fires low and hard towards the bottom right. Krul sticks out a strong arm and turns the ball around the post for a corner. And from the set piece, Krul makes another fine save, tipping over from Ziyech’s rising drive.
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79 min: Loftus-Cheek whistles a daisycutter towards the bottom left. Krul parries well.
78 min: Chelsea stroke the ball this way and that, metronomically, hypnotically. Then suddenly they snap out of it, Ziyech aiming a curler towards the top left. If it’s on target, it’s in, Krul beaten all ends up. But it flies inches wide of the post.
76 min: Chelsea have taken their foot off the gas, easing the pressure on Norwich.
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74 min: Krul takes his own sweet time over a goal kick, wishing the next 16 minutes of his life away. You can’t blame him.
72 min: Hot-Shot Chilwell launches another rocket, this one only just clearing the bar from 25 yards.
70 min: Chelsea can ring the changes now. Barkley and Ziyech come on for Hudson-Odoi and Havertz, who have earned their rest.
69 min: Norwich send on another defender. Sargent, who looked decent in patches during the first half, is sacrificed for Omobamidele.
67 min: Loftus-Cheek has a ping from distance. Hanley closes him down, the ball deflecting towards the top right. Krul reacts and gathers.
RED CARD: Gibson (Norwich City)
65 min: This is getting really ugly now. Gibson, already booked, comes straight through James, a late slide that whips the feet from under the Chelsea full-back. It’s a no-brainer in more ways than one. Out comes the second yellow, and Gibson is sent packing. He theatrically punches the ceiling of the tunnel as he disappears, presumably frustrated at the idiocy of that challenge.
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63 min: Loftus-Cheek comes on for Jorginho.
GOAL! Chelsea 5-0 Norwich City (Aarons og 62)
Space for Hudson-Odoi out on the left wing. He crosses low and hard. The ball clanks off the arm of Aarons, then squirts under the body of the wrong-footed Krul, creeping over the line. The stadium announcer awards the goal to Hudson-Odoi, but that’s surely an own goal.
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61 min: Norwich continue to be second to everything. Chelsea don’t look in the mood to declare at four.
59 min: On the touchline, Daniel Farke stands with arms outstretched, as if to ask what the hell’s going on. It’s a good question.
GOAL! Chelsea 4-0 Norwich City (Chilwell 57)
Ben Chilwell is a goal machine right now, and he pops up with another, his fourth in four successive Premier League matches. Chelsea work the ball from the right to left wing, the full back gliding in from the flank to take a touch and pearl a low curler across Krul and into the bottom-right corner. Another lovely goal.
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55 min: Gibson is booked for a crude block on Havertz.
54 min: Rashica bustles again, this time down the left. He’s eventually eased out of the way, and it’s a goal kick, but the sub is doing his best to disrupt the one-way traffic.
53 min: Finally, a chance for Norwich! Chilwell plays a poor blind pass infield from the right, and suddenly Rashica is free! He attempts to round Mendy on the right, but doesn’t have the pace to circumvent the keeper, who slide-blocks out for a throw. What a chance! What fine keeping from the in-form Mendy.
52 min: Havertz makes good down the right and is forced out of play by Hanley. Corner. Norwich clear the set piece easily enough.
51 min: Jorginho, out on the left, nearly finds Havertz on the penalty spot with an elegant diagonal pass. Not quite.
49 min: Krul has the ball at his feet. His spreads his arms in frustration and screams. No options. He ends up blootering clear and Chelsea pick up possession again.
47 min: Jorginho isn’t far off releasing Hudson-Odoi down the left. Chelsea have started the second half in the manner they finished the first: in total control.
Norwich get their damage-limitation exercise underway. They’ve made two changes, hooking Giannoulis and Lees-Melou and sending on Williams and Rashica. “I wonder what young Billy Gilmour must be thinking,” writes Julian Menz. “He obviously wasn’t eligible to play today, but he’s not been starting for Norwich anyway. Surely it would be more beneficial for his development to be training with Chelsea and getting the odd substitute appearance (now would be the perfect opportunity to give him a half) than be mired in a doomed relegation struggle?”
Half-time entertainment. Chelsea aren’t the only team in London doing quite well at the moment. Jacob Steinberg reports.
HALF TIME: Chelsea 3-0 Norwich City
Chelsea have been wonderful. Norwich not so much. Consider how hard another promoted side pushed the European champions last week. The difference between Brentford and Norwich is night and day.
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45 min: Lees-Melou is booked for a late clip on Chilwell.
44 min: Mount sends a dipping screamer inches over the bar. Norwich can’t wait to hear the half-time whistle. Norwich can’t wait to hear the full-time whistle.
GOAL! Chelsea 3-0 Norwich City (James 42)
This is too easy. Chelsea move the ball this way, then that. Finally Mount slips a clever ball through a small gap down the inside-right channel, springing James clear of the Norwich back line. James gets to the ball ahead of the out-rushing Krul, and chips over the keeper. Three, and this is shaping up to be a rout.
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41 min: Chelsea continue to stroke it about. Ping, ping, pass, ping. And then ...
39 min: Pukki barrels down the right. It’s a fine, determined run, and he’s got Sargent to his left, but he shows too much of the ball to Rudiger, who whips it off his toe and strides clear with beautiful disdain. That was luxury defending. Pukki crumples to the floor in resignation.
37 min: ... and then a little something comes from it as Kabak powers down the inside-right channel and takes a whack from 25 yards. It’s high, wide and not particularly handsome, but it is Norwich’s first attempt on goal.
36 min: A rare period of possession for Norwich. Nothing much comes of it, but that’s not really the point. Nice and easy does it. Baby steps, all that.
34 min: Mount rushes half the length of the pitch down the right. Upon reaching the edge of the box, he tries to slip in Havertz. The pass clanks off his team-mate’s ankle, but what a run.
32 min: Rudiger is clearly in full Beckenbauer Mode this afternoon. He strides forward imperiously, and has another dig from distance. This one balloons up off a defensive leg and into the arms of Krul.
31 min: Hudson-Odoi plays a diagonal left-to-right pass for Mount, on the edge of the D. Mount pearls a rising shot towards the top right. Krul parries. This is too easy for Chelsea.
29 min: See 27 min. “Set the alarm for 4am to watch the Chelsea fixture,” reports Mary Waltz. “Now that the match is done and dusted I don’t have to worry if I nod off.”
27 min: Chelsea continue to ping it around. Norwich chase and chase. “This looks like it is going to get embarrassing for Norwich,” suggests Rick Harris. “Just a question of how many Chelsea feel like scoring. Surely Delia and the board have to change the recipe and send Farke on his way? Steve Bruce is available.”
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25 min: Hudson-Odoi is this close to sending Havertz free down the middle, but he whiffs the final ball. Norwich can barely get a touch.
23 min: From the free kick, Rudiger, of all people, is found down the right wing. He rolls the ball under his foot, drops a shoulder, and beats Sargent with ease. His low cross isn’t so good, but Chelsea are in the mood. Never a bad sign to see one of your central defenders throwing Salahesque shapes on the wing.
22 min: Hanley bowls Havertz to the ground, 30 yards from his own goal, in a central position. Norwich line up in front of their box with concern etched across every face.
20 min: Seconds before the goal, Sargent nicked the ball off Silva, then one-twoed with Pukki, and moved menacingly towards the Chelsea box. But Silva recovered quickly, snatched the ball back, and set the hosts in motion up the other end to great effect. For a second, Norwich wondered if an equaliser could be on the cards. Now look. A thin line between success and failure in the Premier League.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Norwich City (Hudson-Odoi 18)
Now it’s Hudson-Odoi’s turn to open his season account. Kovacic slides a perfectly weighted pass down the inside left channel. Hudson-Odoi is sprung clear. He reaches the area, draws Krul, opens his body, and sidefoots crisply past the keeper and into the bottom right. Easy as that.
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17 min: A small shaft of light for Norwich as Sargent makes a couple of moves down the right wing. Nothing comes of either run, but he’s looking lively whenever the ball comes near him.
15 min: Chelsea have won 16 of the 18 Premier League matches in which they’ve gone ahead under Thomas Tuchel. Norwich will do extremely well to get anything out of this.
13 min: Havertz wins a corner down the left. Mount tries to find Chilwell with a surprise pullback, but the training-ground routine doesn’t come off. Norwich clear.
11 min: Chilwell floats in a cross from the left. Hanley does well to win a header under pressure from Hudson-Odoi. Norwich need to dig in here.
10 min: That’s Mount’s first goal of the season, and his first since the Champions League semi-final here against Real Madrid. Daniel Farke responds to it by looking extremely pensive, as well he might.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Norwich City (Mount 8)
... and here we go. Hudson-Odoi crosses from the left. The ball’s half cleared. Jorginho cushions the clearance down for Mount, who takes a touch to make some space, 20 yards out, then creams a low diagonal drive into the bottom left. Forensic brilliance!
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7 min: Jorginho tries to release Havertz with a cute chip down the inside-left channel. Havertz doesn’t respond. Goal kick. On the touchline, Thomas Tuchel jigs around in high frustration, screaming at someone, anyone, everyone. A bit early for this, surely, but there’s perfectionism for you.
5 min: Rudiger shoots low towards the bottom right from distance. Krul smothers without too much fuss.
4 min: Jorgiho fizzes a low diagonal ball in from the right. Hudson-Odoi isn’t far away from meeting it with an outstretched leg, but the ball sails by and out for a goal kick. A couple of feet further upfield and he’d have been poking goalwards.
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3 min: Aarons makes some good ground down the right and nearly tees up Giannoulis on the edge of the box. The ball rolls behind his team-mate and Chelsea break up the other end, Havertz working his way down the left. His low cross is cleared by Kabak.
2 min: Chelsea work their way into the match with a few passes, slowly moving forward. Eventually Aarons gets the first meaningful touch for Norwich, winning a free kick and putting paid to the hosts’ early rhythm.
Chelsea get the ball rolling ... but only after the knee. More applause.
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“There’s only one Matthew Harding.” Before kick-off, there’s a minute of applause in warm remembrance of the former Chelsea vice-chairman, who passed away in a helicopter crash on the way back from a League Cup defeat at Bolton 25 years ago this week.
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The teams are out! Chelsea in royal blue, Norwich in canary yellow. Lovely to see everyone in their first-choice duds. A nice buzz of anticipation around Stamford Bridge. A blast of The Liquidator. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!
Thomas Tuchel talks to BT. “When we wear the shirt we want to set the standards. We do not care about being favourites or underdogs, we do our thing in the best way possible. We have a strong squad in general, and a strong squad on the pitch today, and it is a team effort. We have some changes but we have a lot of trust in our quality.”
Daniel Farke, who earlier enjoyed a warm hug with old Borussia Dortmund pal Thomas Tuchel, speaks to BT Sport. “This is probably the toughest task in world football. But it’s the reason we love the game, it’s never a guarantee that the predicted outcome is the final result. Two clean sheets are good for the confidence. We have a chance but we have to be spot on. We have to defend all together and create chances together.”
Chelsea make five changes to the side selected for the 4-0 win over Malmo. Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner are both injured, so Kai Havertz and Callum Hudson-Odoi fill in up front. Trevoh Chalobah, Mateo Kovacic and Reece James take shirts from Andreas Christensen, N’Golo Kante and Cesar Azpilicueta.
Norwich aren’t quite in If It Ain’t Broke mode, because, well, y’know ... but they are unchanged. Billy Gilmour isn’t on the bench, though, as he’s ineligible against his parent club.
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The teams
Chelsea: Mendy, Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Rudiger, James, Jorginho, Kovacic, Chilwell, Hudson-Odoi, Mount, Havertz.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Alonso, Christensen, Loftus-Cheek, Saul, Barkley, Ziyech, Azpilicueta, Sarr.
Norwich City: Krul, Kabak, Gibson, Hanley, Aarons, Lees-Melou, Normann, McLean, Giannoulis, Sargent, Pukki.
Subs: Rupp, Dowell, Rashica, Tzolis, Sorensen, Williams, Gunn, Idah, Omobamidele.
Referee: Andrew Madley (West Yorkshire).
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Preamble
Top plays bottom in the Premier League this lunchtime. Chances are nothing will have changed come 2.30pm, but football has made fools of us all before, and will do again, so you never know. So will Daniel Farke’s men shock the world by registering their first win of the season, or will the European champions extend their lead over Liverpool to four points? We’re about to find out. Kick off is at 12.30pm BST. It’s on!
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