Chelsea cruise to victory - Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa

Willian opened the scoring on Saturday

Chelsea cruised to a 3-0 win on Saturday as they continued their undefeated start to the season.

Chelsea made it five wins from their first six Premier League matches of the season with a routine 3-0 win against Aston Villa.

Oscar, Diego Costa and Willian were all on the scoresheet and, in truth, Jose Mourinho's side could easily have scored more goals.

Mourinho started with ten of the line-up that drew 1-1 with Manchester City last weekend with the only change being the introduction of Oscar for Ramires who is struggling with a groin injury.

Villa had managed to shake off the bug that had decimated their squad last weekend and contributed to their 3-0 home defeat to Arsenal and they started the match in the lofty position of third in the table.

In a lively opening, Aly Cissokho gifted Chelsea an early corner with a poor clearance but the impressive Nathan Baker headed the ball clear.

Cesc Fabregas' free-kick was then claimed by Brad Guzan underneath his own crossbar while, when Villa moved forward, John Terry just managed to get his head to Cissokho's cross before Kieran Richardson could latch on to the ball.

However, the league leaders edged ahead in the seventh minute when Oscar fired an angled ten-yard shot into the net after Guzan had done well to save Willian's initial shot.

Gary Cahill's header troubled Guzan as Chelsea pushed for a second goal before Fabregas found some time and space for himself on the edge of the area, only for the former Arsenal and Barcelona man to then drag a shot wide from the edge of the area.

Philippe Senderos timed his challenge well as he dispossessed Costa just when the Spain international was looking dangerous and, as Chelsea continued to dominate, Costa forced Guzan to make a smart save before Branislav Ivanovic directed his powerful header from Fabregas' corner over the bar.

Oscar then found Costa who bent his shot over Guzan's goal while, in a rare Villa foray forward just before half-time, Fabian Delph's effort failed to trouble the under-worked Thibaut Courtois.

Delph had another chance soon after the interval, firing a powerful effort wide, but Chelsea's second goal just before the hour mark effectively ended the match as a contest.

Costa headed Cesar Azpilicueta's cross past Guzan to register his eighth goal in his first six Premier League games and the former Atletico Madrid striker, who cost Mourinho 32million in the summer, could easily have scored a hat-trick against Paul Lambert's side.

Oscar almost immediately made it 3-0 when the ball broke to him off Baker, only for Cissokho to scramble the ball off the line.

Eden Hazard's cross then found Costa who glanced a header wide, but the Spain international striker played a crucial part in Chelsea's third goal which came with 11 minutes remaining.

Costa's shot was saved by Guzan but Willian was on hand to bundle the ball home from a yard out.

From that moment on, Villa appeared to be simply playing out time as they waited for the final whistle while Chelsea were content to play at walking pace as they saved their energy levels in readiness for Tuesday's Champions League Group G clash at Sporting Lisbon.

Substitute Andre Schurrle had two late shots blocked as Chelsea searched for a fourth goal but they had already done the hard work as they sealed another fine win that leaves them three points clear of second-placed Southampton after six matches of the campaign.