Hasselbaink opened the scoring midway through the first half after a perfect ball from Gianfranco Zola. Then just before the break, the Chelsea fans were treated to some more Zola magic when the little Italian flicked a ball into the box for Emmanuel Petit to fire home on the volley.

Mario Stanic rose above Li Tie to head home his side's first corner of the game on 68 minutes, then Hasselbaink cut inside to beat Richard Wright from 20 yards out to make it 4-0. Wonderkid Wayne Rooney had his penalty saved by Carlo Cudicini but the resulting corner was bundled home by Gary Naysmith.

The task now facing David Moyes is clear - to ensure his side perform far better in the Premiership rematch on Saturday. To do so, they must raise their game as this was no second-string contest. The Blues were hardly at their best early on, with passes going astray and too many unforced errors.

However, there was no mistaking the inspiration behind Chelsea's opening goal as Frank Lampard - the dominant force in midfield - showed real composure inside his own penalty area to pick out Zola. The Italian immediately noticed Hasselbaink's run and played a pinpoint pass into the path of the flying Dutchman, who fired his shot past Wright.

Everton had a few half-chances of their own, with Mark Pembridge volleying wide from Thomas Radzinski's knock-down. However it was not until Rooney switched flanks that he made his first real impression on the game on 31 minutes with a high cross that Kevin Campbell headed at Cudicini.

That was soon followed by a magnificent crossfield ball to Pembridge, whom Everton boss Moyes decided to withdraw shortly afterwards for Naysmith.

Zola was still being a menace, as the Chelsea striker chipped a perfect lob to Petit, who just beat the offside trap before swivelling onto the ball and sending his volley past Wright.

Rooney emerged after the interval with a new role, slotting into a central position just behind strikers Campbell and Radzinski, who planted his team's  next effort straight at Cudicini. Having then lost possession, Rooney attempted to keep up with Gronkjaer as Chelsea counter-attacked but was left trailing by the pacy Danish winger.

Zola was still prompting his side's attacks, although just when he thought that he had scored himself, the 'goal' was ruled out for offside. Zola then delivered an inswinging free-kick from close to the corner flag which clipped the top of the bar but there was at least some relief in store for Everton when the Italian was taken off.

It was not long before Chelsea were out of sight, however, when Stanic rose above Li Tie to head home his side's first corner of the game on 68 minutes. Three minutes later, it was 4-0, with Hasselbaink cutting inside to beat Wright from 20 yards out and the result was beyond any doubt at all.