Chelsea have bounced back in spectacular fashion from the 3-1 loss to Real Madrid in the week. Kai Havertz, who led by example against the Spanish giants at Stamford Bridge, continued his rich vein of form as the Blues cruised past Southampton 6-0.
Marcos Alonso opened the scoring for Thomas Tuchel's side, and then Mason Mount quickly doubled Chelsea's lead on the south coast. Timo Werner threw his hat in the ring five minutes later before Havertz netted the west Londoners' fourth of the tie.
Goals continued to flood St Mary's as Werner found his second of the afternoon inside a few minutes of the restart. Mount then chipped in again for another before Ralph Hasenhuttle finally reined in his troops and surrendered a six-goal demolition.
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Chelsea have now extended their gulf in quality from fourth. Tuchel's side are now ten points behind Liverpool and eight from London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham.
Havertz, who was replaced by Christian Pulisic at the break, caught the eye once again and drew comparisons to Diego Maradona. The 22-year-old has now scored five in his last five Premier League appearances.
The Germany international performed successive pirouettes to evade his marker and waltz away with possession. Havertz's moment of magic sent Blues fans into pandemonium on social media, with fans raving about his continued rise to superstardom.
While Chelsea fans were only treated to 45 minutes of the German's wizardry - potentially with Real Madrid in mind - Havertz was showered with praise. On Tuesday, the 'goal machine' could be a pivotal cog in Tuchel's master plan at the Santiago Bernabeu.
@CFCDubois said: "Kai Havertz has become a literal goal machine, this form is literally electrifying. Proving doubters wrong."
@AlexGoldberg_ said: "Kai Havertz is going to have such a legendary career in a Chelsea shirt. I mean, he already is, but he's still just scratching the surface."
@JoeTweedie said: "Havertz is definitely the future."
@CFCPys said: "Kai Havertz is so good man, present and future of Chelsea, we've missed on so many big signings but not Kai, delivering clutch moments and now consistent Premier League performances, just a joy to watch, especially his movement."
With such a wealth of praise, Havertz will undoubtedly feel like royalty as Chelsea travel to Madrid. He was once doubted, has enjoyed a meteoric rise in west London.
