Who can stop Chelsea?

Three. That's how many goals Chelsea put past Everton in a Carabao Cup tie that never felt in doubt from the moment Joaquín opened the scoring just after the half-hour. By the time Antonio López added a third six minutes from the end, the only question left was whether Everton would manage a shot on target. They did, twice, but Adrián Santana was equal to both.

The night belonged to Pablo Ferrer. The striker, handed the slot usually occupied by Marcelo Formicola, scored one, set up another, and ran Everton ragged with four dribbles and five shots. He was the best player on the pitch by a distance, and the crowd knew it. Every touch drew a ripple of anticipation.

Everton started with a back four and a plan to keep things tight, but Chelsea's passing was too quick, too sharp. César Schwindt and Jassem Abdulla at the back barely broke sweat, completing 147 of their 155 passes between them. Everton's midfield pair of Alberto Robles and Víctor Boix, a partnership that has struggled all season, never got close enough to the ball to make a difference.

Robles, back at the Drogba Arena for the first time since leaving Chelsea in the summer, was booked five minutes before half-time and replaced just before the hour. He got a warm reception from the home fans, but his night was one to forget. His old club moved the ball around him as if he wasn't there.

Billy Laing, asked to play on the left rather than his usual central role, set up the second goal with a lovely reverse pass that Ferrer finished with his left foot. Laing was replaced after 65 minutes, but by then the game was over as a contest.

Everton's best player was Antonio Lloret, who won four tackles and made six interceptions in a losing cause. He'll wonder what more he could have done. The answer is nothing. Chelsea were simply better in every department.

So Chelsea march on. The Carabao Cup may be the least of their priorities, but this performance showed the depth of the squad. Formicola, Urtzi San Martín and Júnior all watched from the bench, yet the team never missed them. That's the scary thing about this Chelsea side: whoever plays, the machine just keeps rolling.

Next up for the Blues is a league trip to Stoke City on New Year's Day. Good luck to Stoke. They'll need it.