Relentless: Chelsea never stopped pursuing a sixth goal vs. Everton

Everton’s slogan proclaims the club is never satisfied with anything but the best. Chelsea exemplified that credo, relentlessly seeking a sixth goal right up to the final whistle.

As “boring, boring Chelsea” ironically rang out around Stamford Bridge, Antonio Conte’s men never let up their pursuit for one more goal against the overwhelmed Toffees. Further banishing any holdovers from the Jose Mourinho era(s), the Blues showed no interest in parking the bus or playing the ball to the corners to ride out the clock.

Six of Chelsea’s 21 shots came after Pedro scored the fifth goal. Victor Moses took the final shot of the game, forcing Maarten Stekelenburg into a save in the 90th minute.

Shortly before that, John Terry did his best impersonation of a wing-back. The veteran centre-back overlapped Marcos Alonso in the Chelsea end. Terry received a pass at midfield and took off down the touchline.

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There are few better ways for John Terry to lead by example and personify Antonio Conte’s footballing ethos. Conte, for his part, also led from the front. Until the final whistle Conte was yelling, gesticulating and overall conducting the flow of play from his technical area. He gave his men no respite from his demands of 90 minutes of perfect football. In return, his men gave Everton neither relief nor mercy.

Everton are the most recent club to learn this about the new Chelsea. The Blues maintained their press for 90 minutes against Southampton and Manchester United as well. Against the Saints last week, N’Golo Kante drove the ball to the Saints’ goal line in the 87th minute.

Earlier in the season, before the switch to the 3-4-3, Chelsea regularly went behind early and relied on late heroics to pull out results. Chelsea came from behind to defeat West Ham and Watford, and to draw against Swansea City.

This full-90 style is one of the few elements of the first six games that carried over into the most recent five. In those early matches the team showed their mental toughness and resilience to rally back and secure points. Since beginning this undefeated run, Chelsea have converted those qualities into 90 minutes of passion and perfection.

Previous incarnations of the club would have brought on Mikel John Obi to take station at the top of the defensive third. Behind him, the defenders would fall back as Chelsea settled into 4-5-1 formation to await the final whistle.

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A pragmatist like Jose Mourinho would argue that three points is three points, whether the result is 2-1 or 5-0. A paranoid pragmatist would counter that goal differential may be all that separates the top teams at the end of the season.

There is something to be said, though, for 90 minutes of beautiful attacking football. Whether it is a matter of fan preference (or your owner’s preference, Roman Abramovich looking quite pleased yesterday) or the team’s character, playing for a 6-0 win instead of “settling” for a 5-0 win speaks volumes for a club and its manager.

Next: Chelsea annihilate Everton at Stamford Bridge: Player ratings

As we have been saying quite frequently around here lately, long may it continue.