The message was loud and clear as the home supporters spelt out to Guochuan Lai, the club’s Chinese owner, exactly what they think of Tony Pulis. Anger and frustration has been bubbling away here for a while, yet this was the afternoon when patience finally snapped. “We want Pulis out,” was chanted repeatedly by a fanbase that is no longer willing to tolerate the sight of him in charge of a team in freefall.
“You’re getting sacked in the morning” and “Tony Pulis, your football is shit” also reverberated as Chelsea brutally exposed the brittle confidence in a side that has now won two of their past 21 Premier League matches and collected 12 points in the process. It is relegation form and Pulis appears powerless to arrest the slide.
Lai had scheduled this visit around six weeks ago but it could not have been more timely and it was tempting to wonder what was going through his mind as he watched such a listless performance on the pitch and listened to the scathing criticism of Pulis from the stands. Pulis’s position felt untenable come the end and the 59-year-old sounded like a man who is resigned to his fate when he attended the post-match press conference,
The empty seats before the game told a story – faith was lost in these parts a long time ago – and so did the sight of many others leaving with 27 minutes remaining. Eden Hazard had just scored his second and Chelsea’s fourth as they coasted to a fourth successive Premier League victory.
This had turned into an exercise in damage limitation for Albion long before half-time. Chelsea were 3-0 up after only 38 minutes and, as well as the Premier League champions played at times, it was alarming to see a team managed by Pulis defending so shambolically. There was so much time and space for Chelsea to exploit and the visitors were not going to pass up the opportunity.
Álvaro Morata continued his excellent start to the season, netting Chelsea’s first from close range and setting up the second for Hazard, taking his tally to eight goals and four assists in the league. Marcos Alonso then scored Chelsea’s third, taking advantage of some appalling marking from a set-piece, before Hazard added the goal that reflected the gulf in quality between the two sides.
Antonio Conte will have few easier afternoons in the dugout. “The game became easy because we started very well,” said Chelsea’s manager, who senses that his team are finding some form. “Last season we won 13 games in a row and I must be honest, in this league it’s not simple to have this type of run, because every game you have to play with great concentration. But four wins in a row is important for us and our confidence. We started this season with many problems but we are trying slowly to find the right solution.”
Morata certainly seems like the answer up front. The Spaniard’s opening goal was routine enough but it was an exquisite flick he produced from Cesc Fàbregas’s pass to set Hazard free for Chelsea’s second. Hazard rounded Ben Foster with the minimum of fuss, rolled the ball into the empty net and already, with 23 minutes gone, it felt like there was no way back for Albion.
That feeling was reinforced when Alonso added the third. Fàbregas, who was involved in three of Chelsea’s four goals, delivered a free-kick from wide on the left and it is no exaggeration to say that there was no defender within five yards of Alonso, who volleyed high into the roof of the net with the angle against him at the far post.
Toothless up front, overrun in midfield and wide open at the back, Albion were all over the place and it was no surprise when Chelsea grabbed a fourth. Fàbregas’s fine lofted pass released Hazard in behind and the Belgian twisted away from Ahmed Hegazi before dispatching a low shot into the bottom corner. The game was up for Albion. And it surely is for Pulis, too.
