David McGoldrick’s early goal proved to be irrelevant as Chelsea’s unstoppable attack put four past the Blades.
Chelsea dominated the ball with some neat linkup play between Ziyech and James resulting in a great save by Ramsdale to deny Chilwell from a tight angle after an Abraham flick at the near post.
Sheffield began to grow into game with Baldock looking lively with his constant pressing and aggressive runs from right wing back
The Sheffield pressure paid off with a well worked goal from a corner which saw a Sander Berge attempted shot fall into the path of McGoldrick who expertly flicked the ball beyond Mendy. Three of McGoldrick’s four PL goals have been against Chelsea.
Chelsea responded well to going behind with Abraham having an effort saved by Ramsdale after some good footwork to beat his man. The Blues saw the majority of the ball, with the midfield spraying the ball around nicely yet not really threatening the Sheffield backline.
Chelsea’s domination of the ball saw a delightful ball from Ziyech played over the top of the defence into the path of Kovacic who pulled it back to Abraham, who looked the most likely to score, dispatched a strike into the bottom corner. That goal seemed to invigorate Chelsea who looked much more threatening, finding space between defenders as the Sheffield solidity faded.
The aim of Wilder’s team was to hang on until half time as they dealt with the incoming crosses from out wide especially from Reece James. This aim seemed less likely as a Werner effort cannoned off the crossbar after another superb save from Ramsdale following a dangerous free-kick whipped in from Ziyech.
Yet another James cross nearly caught out Ramsdale from a tight angle who was forced to give away a corner. From the resulting corner, Ziyech provided a beauty of a cross which caught Lowe out and left Ramsdale in no man’s land as Chilwell was on hand to turn the ball in with his knee at the back post for his second of the season.
The game then seemed to slip away from Sheffield as John Egan was booked for dragging back Werner, preventing a potential counter-attack. From that free-kick, Ramsdale had to produce another save after a towering Zouma header met Chilwell who tried to poke the ball into the corner.
Sheffield ended the half strongly with a decent delivery by Lowe leading to a Sheffield corner which flashed across the area, begging for any touch to send it goalwards. To add to this pressure, Lundstram attempted to catch Mendy out at his near post but the Senegalese keeper was equal to it.
At the start of the second half, Kovacic was sent through after a poor header from Stevens but Basham produced a goal-saving tackle to thwart Chelsea’s attempts to take a 3-1 lead.
The defending for Sheffield continued as Egan had to divert a precise curling strike from Ziyech over the bar which was destined to end up in the goal. Some scrappy, last-ditch defending from Egan and Stevens helped spare the blushes of Brewster who took too long to clear the ball from a Chelsea corner. Brewster was then subbed off after 62 minutes for McBurnie as well as Norwood coming off for Ben Osborn.
Chelsea began to show their class as Ziyech cut in setting up a Kovacic shot which narrowly missed the post as Sheffield’s determination seemed to be the only thing keeping the Blades in the game. With a quarter of the contest to go, Chelsea had 82% possession as it became a back against the wall situation for Sheffield.
Ziyech proved to be the most dangerous player on the pitch, notching his second assist of the game with a delightful corner which was met by the head of Thiago Silva for Chelsea’s third.
It was that man again as Ziyech put on a passing masterclass and a man of the match display, with a lofted ball for Werner who should’ve done better with his chip over Ramsdale going wide.
Timo Werner put the nail in the coffin for Sheffield, in the 80th minute, as he latched onto a poor tackle from Egan which sent the German through who smashed it beyond Ramsdale.
Ramsdale capped off his very busy game with an acrobatic save to send a Mason Mount strike over the bar.
It has been a wretched start for the Blades who have tallied just one point after eight games which will leave fans wanting to see results sooner rather than later.
Line-ups
Chelsea (4-3-3):
Mendy; James, Zouma, Silva, Chilwell, Kovacic (Jorginho 70’), Kante, Mount, Ziyech, Abraham, Werner (Giroud 86’)
Sheffield United (3-5-2):
Ramsdale; Basham, Egan, Stevens, Baldock, Lowe, Berge, Norwood (Osborn 62’), Lundstram, Brewster (McBurnie 62’), McGoldrick