Romelu Lukaku scored his first and second-ever goal at Stamford Bridge to help Chelsea return to winning ways with a 3-0 triumph over Aston Villa.
The Belgian opened the scoring with a typically clinical finish 15 minutes into what was his 15th appearance at the ground, just minutes after Callum Hudson-Odoi’s corner delivery was struck against his own crossbar by Ezri Konsa.
However, rather than feeling sorry for themselves, Villa rallied and should have at least been level at the break as Tyrone Mings, Konsa and Jacob Ramsey were denied by the inspired Edouard Mendy, while Ollie Watkins squandered a couple of gilt-edged chances.
Chelsea debutant Saul Niguez had struggled with the pace of the game and was replaced by Jorginho at half-time, who inspired a much-improved performance after the break.
The Blues doubled their advantage just minutes after the restart when Mateo Kovacic pounced on a poor back pass from Mings and the Croatian made no mistake, grabbing his second Premier League goal of his career.
That killed Villa’s hopes and momentum as Chelsea grabbed control of the game and in the final knockings, Lukaku hammered in his brace to give the host a rather flattering victory.
Victory moves Chelsea into second in the early Premier League table, level on points with leaders Manchester United with 10 points from a possible 12. Aston Villa are 12th with four points.