Chelsea 4 Norwich 1: It was an ‘excellent’ display, says Di Matteo

Chelsea 4 Norwich 1: Roberto Di Matteo was thrilled with his side's performance as they maintained their 100 per cent start

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By TSR staff Saturday 6 October 2012, 18:30 UK

Chelsea

Norwich

Roberto Di Matteo could not hide his delight at Chelsea’s “excellent” performance after his side maintained their 100 per cent start to the season with a commanding victory over Norwich.

Grant Holt had given the Canaries a surprise 11th-minute lead at Stamford Bridge but the Blues hit back three minutes later when Fernando Torres headed home.

Frank Lampard’s long-range effort then gave Di Matteo’s side the lead, before Eden Hazard latched on to Juan Mata’s superb through-ball to extend the home side’s advantage.

Branislav Ivanovic then thundered home a fourth in the 76th minute to cap a comfortable victory and keep the west Londoners on top of the Premier League table.

“I thought it [the performance] was excellent,” said Di Matteo. “We played some fantastic football, created a lot of chances and maybe could have scored a couple more.

“Every team makes it difficult for you. They are fighting for points and so are we, and after we went 1-0 down it was crucial to get the equaliser quickly. From there we never looked back and scored the second and third in the first half.

“I always said we have a good squad and I’m utilising it. We’ve not seen much of Cesar Azpilicueta or Oriol Romeu who will get more time after the international break. We’ve got Marin coming back and Daniel Sturridge has been injured.

“We’ve got options and so far we’ve been lucky with injuries but after the break it is a busy fixture list and we will refresh the team a little bit.”

Di Matteo has been particularly pleased with the attitude his team are approaching each game with, but believes it is still to early to read anything into the Blues’ position at the top of the table heading into the international break.

“It seems at the moment they are enjoying playing football, that’s what they love doing and they are lucky people to be able to do this as a job,” he continued.

“We can only try and continue this momentum and form, and that will help everybody involved going forward.

“We have a philosophy we are aiming to play and at the moment the team is in healthy form, we are creating lots of chances and scoring lots of goals, with different goalscorers. It’s a team that’s in good shape.

“I think we’re just pleased that we go into this international break top of the Premier League.

“We’ll keep chipping away and try to win as many points as we can. I still think Manchester City and Manchester United will still be up there.”