HAT-tRICK HERO Chelsea's Spanish striker Marc Guiu celebrates scoring his hat-trick, the team's fourth goal during the UEFA Europa Conference League football match between Chelsea and Shamrock Rovers at Stamford Bridge in London on December 19, 2024. Picture: Justin Tallis/AFP
Image: Justin Tallis/AFP
Chelsea showed once more that they are a team on the rise with a 5-1 thumping victory over Shamrock Rovers in their Europa Conference League clash, at Stamford Bridge, on Thursday.
The win for The Blues made it six victories in a row in the competition, as they qualified for the last 16 with a full haul of points.
Eighteen-year-old striker Marc Guiu produced a brilliant hat-trick in the first half, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall adding another to see Chelsea off to a 4-1 lead at half-time.
Marc Cucurella found Chelsea’s fifth just on the hour mark to complete another dominant performance for the title favourites.
Dewsbury-Hall agreed with the favourites tag for his side.
“A lot of people will say we are big favourites and honestly, we probably are, but in football it is not easy to keep winning," Dewsbury-Hall told TNT Sports.
"Six wins out of six is pretty good.”
As defending Premier League champions Manchester City have stumbled in the title race, although they’re not completely out of it yet, Chelsea have emerged as the biggest challengers to table-toppers Liverpool.
Liverpool on 36 points, with a game in hand, are just two points ahead of Chelsea. Arsenal are already some way off at six points behind in third place.
With Liverpool in its first season under new coach Arne Slot, there will be genuine belief among Chelsea players and its fans that they can win their first league title since 2016/2017.
"This tournament is relieving a lot of pressure for some of the people who play in the Premier league and it's a chance for young academy lads to make their debuts,” added Dewsbury-Hall.
"It is a good vibe at the moment."