Match Reports: Walsall 1-4 Chelsea

Walsall’s only victory against Chelsea came way back in 1963 and it was the Londoners who quickly found their rhythm and nearly took the lead inside four minutes.

Falcao’s night was summed up by a second-half free-kick he took, which ended up with on-loan striker slipping on to his backside and the ball bobbling embarrassingly to the grateful Walsall wall. Also, congrats to the captain for this 650th start in all competitions for Chelsea.

Kenedy had already created one chance for Ramires before the pair combined again to open the scoring for the Blues.

The 19-year-old then had time to cross from the left for the unmarked Ramires to head in at the far post.

Second-half goals from Kenedy and Pedro helped Chelsea to a 4-1 away win over Walsall in the League Cup this evening.

The home support thought Lalkovic had levelled the scores in the 26th minute after he had beaten Branislav Ivanovic, but the midfielder’s shot hit the side-netting.

Meanwhile, there were Premier League casualties as Newcastle United’s miserable start to the season continued with a home loss against Sheffield Wednesday, while Norwich secured a comfortable 3-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.

Whatever embarrassment Eva Carneiro’s likely legal dispute with the club might generate, whatever anger lingered at the retrospective loss of Diego Costa for three matches, the pitch was a rare oasis of calm for Chelsea.

Ramires slipped Falcao through, and when Etheridge got a touch on his low shot, O’Connor hacked it off the line.

The Colombian’s third first-half chance came in the 40th minute, when he slid in to try to convert a Baba Rahman cross but Etheridge got to the ball first.

The team was skippered by John Terry with Eden Hazard, Pedro and Namanja Matic on the subs bench. He went into referee Lee Mason’s book shortly after half-time for kicking the ball away.

Kenedy, making his full debut, crossed from the left for fellow Brazilian Ramires to head past former Fulham keeper Neil Etheridge.

Kenedy proved even more effective seven minutes later as Chelsea broke the deadlock.

Jose Mourinho does enjoy a conspiracy theory – so he’ll have loved the Kenedy assassination of little Walsall.

The water sprinkler made an unwelcome explosion soon after to signify it was raining goals at Banks’ Stadium in Walsall, but the next notable action was Chelsea being awarded a foul in their favour.