The Valley was rocking from the opening whistle, with the Charlton fans eager to take their London neighbours down a peg or two. Before the game could really get going, a lengthy break for a medical emergency in the crowd reduced the feverish temperature around the ground a bit.
That probably helped the visitors, who quickly settled into their shape, retaining possession and pinning the Addicks back in their own half. The Blues generated six shots on target off the back of their 77% possession in the opening 45 minutes, but for the most part, Will Mannion was up to the task in the Charlton goal.
The breakthrough finally came in added time in the first half. Jorrell Hato broke onto a bouncing ball on the edge of the Charlton box, connecting with a sweet volley to thrash home the opener.
Chelsea compounded the hosts' misery shortly after the break. Facundo Bounanotte's wide free kick was darted into the near post with venom, allowing Adarabioyo to nod home the Blues' second.
The hosts refused to go quietly however. A Charlton corner was floated into the Blues' box, allowing Lloyd Jones to turn a header towards Filip Jorgensen's goal. The stand-in keeper was able to claw the shot away, but Miles Leaburn pounced, firing under the Dane's despairing dive. While that had the Charlton faithful dreaming of a famous comeback, their hopes were dashed just five minutes later, as Guiu latched onto the rebound from Alejandro Garnacho's shot to blast past Mannion for the Premier League side's third.
That seemed to break the hosts' resolve, as Chelsea looked the more likely side to add another goal. The introduction of Estevao on the right-hand side produced multiple sights at Mannion's goal. The back-up keeper was able to re-buff shots from the young Brazilian and Enzo Fernandez, while Liam Delap fluffed his lines with a gilt-edged chance. As the mist started rolling through The Valley in the closing moments, Neto added a fourth with a clever chop inside a flailing challenge by Jones, before firing low into the near corner, before Enzo added a fifth from the penalty spot after Mannion was adjudged to have felled Esetevao.
GOAL rates Chelsea's players from The Valley...
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