Chelsea 4 Real Betis 0

Mourinho could be excused for saying that he had seen it all before, and with 13 goals in Chelsea's last three matches there was a distinctive sense of déjà vu about another performance of astonishing control and conviction by the Premiership champions.

Driven on by the peerless Michael Essien in midfield, they had secured the victory by half-time and are now joint top of Group G with Liverpool on seven points. The fate awaiting the bottom side in the Premiership, Everton, at Goodison Park on Sunday hardly bears contemplation.

Mourinho was asked whether there was a flaw in this performance, but his protestation that his side had appeared uncertain around set pieces in the early stages was the only criticism he could raise. Chelsea took the lead through Didier Drogba on 24 minutes and from that point their Spanish opposition simply crumbled under the onslaught of a side that never hesitates when presented with a wounded opponent.

The debate about Chelsea's utilitarian approach to winning football matches, the lack of colour in their early season victories, now feels just about as redundant as the Betis defence looked last night. After the 4-1 defeat of Liverpool, the 5-1 crushing of Bolton Wanderers and this victory, Mourinho said that he could not guarantee that there would not be another period when his side did not score many goals. "But I think everyone knows now that we want to score goals," he added. "Sometimes it is not possible. We don't need to send a message to anyone, we just want to achieve our targets."

Last night it looked remarkably easy. Essien was a formidable contender in the centre of midfield, alongside him Joe Cole delivered a performance of the highest quality and in goal Mourinho even gave a rare game to Carlo Cudicini. It was a source of some discussion before the match that Cudicini's father Fabio had decided against a trip to London to watch his son in favour of attending Milan against PSV Eindhoven. Cudicini Snr was right - apart from the early stages his son was barely troubled.

Betis picked up where Bolton had left off on Saturday, trying - albeit unsuccessfully - to break their hosts down from a series of set pieces and corners. Claude Makelele cleared off the line while Ricardo Oliveira lunged a moment too late at a cross from the left from Joaquin. A delicate pass to Edu on 20 minutes eluded three Chelsea defenders but he could not twist in time to connect for a shot.

At that point, Drogba's touch had looked at its unpredictable worst: his connection with Shaun Wright-Phillips' 18th-minute cross was so poor that the ball looped away from goal. The striker's second opportunity, however, was taken with some enthusiasm. A loose ball in the Betis midfield turned up at the feet of Essien and after two strides he released a ball through the back four that Drogba stroked past the Betis goalkeeper Antonio Doblas for Chelsea's first.

To concede one goal at Stamford Bridge is to live dangerously, to concede a second is to all but give up hope and Chelsea's second, just a minute before the interval, was a goal that will live with Doblas for the rest of his career.

Frank Lampard's free-kick from the left was fumbled horribly by the goalkeeper and gave Ricardo Carvalho the simplest chance to poke in Chelsea's second.

As Bolton also discovered to their detriment on Saturday, Mourinho's Chelsea are just as daunting after half-time. The third goal his team scored did at least have Mourinho out of his seat. Makelele's pass into substitute Crespo was laid off to Essien and he fed Cole on the left who gathered the ball into his stride on the edge of the area before weighting a curling shot inside Doblas' left post.

Liberated from any concerns of a Betis revival, Chelsea added a fourth on 64 minutes. Lampard found Wright-Phillips on the right and he hooked back a cross that Crespo headed in from close range. Mourinho looked up briefly but not even another rout could distract him from explaining his orders to substitute Eidur Gudjohnsen.

It was Gudjohnsen who almost added a fifth on 77 minutes, but his shot was stopped first by Doblas and then, when the rebound bounced back to him, the post.

In the meantime Mourinho felt comfortable enough to send on Lassana Diarra, 20, a £2m signing from Le Havre, for his debut.

Even in the final minutes, Essien was still driving through the Betis midfield signalling what the rest of Europe must fear most about Chelsea: that they are still yet to reach their very best.

Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cudicini; Gallas, Carvalho, Terry, Del Horno; Makelele (Diarra, 76); Wright-Phillips (Gudjohnsen, 67), Essien, Lampard, Cole; Drogba (Crespo, h-t). Substitutes not used: Cech (gk), Geremi, Ferreira, Huth.

Real Betis (4-4-2): Doblas; Lopez Xisco, (h-t), Juanito, Rivas, Melli; Varela, Rivera, Miguel Angel (Assuncao, 55), Edu; Joaquin, Oliveira. Substitutes not used: Contreras (gk), Dani, Arzu, Capi, Nano.

Referee: T Hauge (Norway).