MK Dons vs Chelsea match report: Oscar nets hat-trick and Eden Hazard scores first goal of the season for Blues

MK Dons 1 Chelsea 5

Eden Hazard fires home his third goal of the game (Getty Images)

Milton Keynes wanted to put on a show and did, hospitable hosts to the end. A first-half hat-trick by Oscar was in fact a poor return from a player who benefited most from the leaden steps of an overawed and overrun opponent.

Chelsea arrived unbeaten in eight matches and on the back of a victory at Arsenal that suggested the woes of the late Jose Mourinho period were behind them. The paucity of the challenge provided by the Championship side warns against making too big a claim on behalf of Guus Hiddink’s team, but in this setting at least, they looked a decent approximation to the unit that won the Premier League nine months ago.

Eden Hazard put on an exhibition in the No 10 shirt, ending an absurd run of 31 games without a Chelsea goal from the penalty spot early in the second half. He won the award himself courtesy of the kind of dart into the box that had been his trademark.

The game was over by then, of course, and might have been in the first 10 minutes such was the scale of the MK Dons implosion. Wisely their manager Karl Robinson chose to highlight the strength of the opposition rather than his own team’s failings. “They were outstanding,” Robinson said. “All week we were talking about them turning a corner, and they have. They showed plenty of class today. We were on a hiding to nothing.

“You want to go toe to toe and you want to beat them, but when you reflect they were just outstanding. I will use this as a learning curve. Some of my players let themselves down a little bit. It would be unfair to name them. Some will come out of it better footballers if they want to learn and take the positives away.”

The positive for Chelsea, if that is what you can call it, is a home draw against Manchester City in the fifth round, described by Hiddink as “a final, a huge game”. At least the interim manager has the club’s headline acts putting in productive shifts.

Hazard lit up the stadium in the opening minutes with a brilliant turn and run through what should have been the heart of the Dons midfield had it not disappeared. A deft ball picked out Oscar’s run down the right and he in turn put it on a plate for Diego Costa.

It was all too easy, which must have disarmed the Spaniard, who struck his shot as if the ball were already in the net. David Martin had other ideas in goal, blocking superbly. Next in the coconut shy was Oscar, who side-footed wide.

Chelsea were still scratching their heads when Rob Hall burst across the halfway line at pace, utterly squaring up John Terry, who was fortunate to escape a booking for the inevitable trip, a snapshot that in microcosm helps explain the news that broke afterwards that there will no contract renewal for the soon to be ex-captain, leader, legend.

Oscar needed three attempts to breach the shredded MK defences, finally, in the 15th minute, forcing the ball home on the stretch past Martin. The giant Ruben Loftus-Cheek, a marauding presence in the middle of the park, should have made it two within a minute, his left foot shot easily gathered by Martin.

As poor as the Dons were defensively, they did not want for ambition going forward and as if to mock the visitors for the chances missed were level within six minutes. A sharp move down the left saw the ball break to captain Dean Lewington, who shifted it square to Darren Potter. Urged on by the crowd, Potter let fly, his shot looping high off Nemanja Matic over the outstretched hand of Thibaut Courtois into the net.

You would have thought shoppers at nearby Ikea and Asda had burst through the gates such was the noise that greeted the goal, maddening for Chelsea but marvellous for the occasion. The visitors would be ahead again 11 minutes later, blowing two excellent chances via Hazard and Costa before Oscar, picked out neatly by Loftus-Cheek, slid the ball expertly across the diving Martin.

Five minutes before the break Jake Forster-Caskey and Samir Carruthers again reminded Chelsea of the Dons’ ability to raid at pace if not hit the target. Oscar showed them how with a rasping drive to extend the lead a minute before half time.

The match proceeded with all the intensity of a training game for Chelsea in the second half, with Costa, mindful of the busy week ahead, making way for Bertrand Traoré immediately after Hazard got their fourth in the 55th minute. Traoré needed only six minutes to make his mark, smashing in right-footed after being teed up by Hazard, who was then removed with Oscar to allow Pedro and Willian to stretch their legs for 25 minutes.

“We are playing well, scoring goals and enjoying it at the moment,” said Terry. “It would be good now to go on a run. We know what the FA Cup means.”

Hiddink was less concerned with City in the next round than the general upswing in returns. “We have to take into consideration the team we played came from a lower league but we can be happy with that performance,” he said.

“In first 20 minutes we showed ambition to finish it early. The only thing we forgot was to score. I don’t know if this was the best but I like very much the commitment of the team to make it a good performance. The reaction after conceding was very good.”

Hiddink put loan signing Pato through a light training session on Saturday followed by a second yesterday morning but the need for fresh legs in that part of the pitch has surely receded with the performances of Hazard and Oscar.

“Hazard is coming back after a long absence,” Hiddink added. “He needs the rhythm of the game, which is important. The players have responded well to the way we are working. There is quality in the team, but also the will to do the very disciplined, tactical work as we demand. That’s benefiting the team. I have said we cannot depend only on the production of Diego Costa, we ask others to contribute.”