League Two Morecambe put up a fierce fight before losing 5-0 in the FA Cup, forcing Chelsea to wait for the floodgates to open.
During parts of the first half, it was easy to forget that these teams were separated by 87 spots in the pyramid.
The team, which is now ranked 23rd in League Two, left Enzo Maresca’s Champions League contenders wondering how they would advance to round four.
Chelsea lacked motivation for much of the game, as evidenced by the fact that reserve defender Tosin Adarabioyo scored two of the five goals from outside the penalty area.
However, the 27-year-old should be commended for taking the initiative to break the tie late in the first half as the crowd grew nervous.
Soon, the natural order took control. Joao Felix scored two goals in a rare start, and Christopher Nkunku scored to make it 2-0 after missing a penalty earlier, but Morecambe left feeling they had made Chelsea work.
They failed to provide Maresca’s team with the first half they were hoping for.
After five minutes, Filip Jorgensen mishandled a goal from Ben Tollitt of the visitors, giving Chelsea the impression that they would need some time to get over their four-game losing streak.
They had some early opportunities. Defensor Yann Songo’o’s ridiculous handball, which would have looked perfectly normal on the volleyball field, allowed Nkunku to open the scoring from the penalty spot after Tosin had headed against the post from a corner.
With a save that will live in the memories of the Morecambe fans packed behind his goal, keeper Harry Burgoyne absolved his skipper by taking advantage of the lack of VAR and walking a clear foot off his goal line.
When Felix drilled low towards the corner from 25 yards out, the effervescent Burgoyne made an incredible fingertip save, but Chelsea appeared to be lacking inspiration.
After half an hour, the first cries of annoyance came from the home crowd when Axel Disasi lumped a pass artlessly out of play.
With a sense that the mission was under control, Callum Jones’ deflection of Tosin’s strike inside the post sent Chelsea in at halftime, finally igniting the tension.
They then had their own way of doing things. Burgoyne saved a goal from Renato Veiga, and five minutes after halftime, Nkunku scored the rebound to double the lead.
For the second time in the game, Tosin leathered in from outside the box, this time from further out, and it fizzed past Burgoyne with no deflection, shocking both Stamford Bridge and apparently himself.
Perhaps unavoidably, the home crowd yelled “shoot” at the defender whenever he touched the ball after that, even halfway within his own half.
Felix scored the fourth goal from a more plausible source, putting the ball low into the corner from 25 yards out, something fans haven’t seen him do much of since he returned to west London.
The Portugal international demonstrated that he was in the right frame of mind by bending in the team’s best goal to make 5-0.