Chelsea had an afternoon to forget as Sergio Aguero ran riot for Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The Argentina ace scored a superb hat-trick to crush Guus Hiddink’s side and a late Thibaut Courtois red card only made matters worse for the Blues.
City were absolutely deadly on the counter attack as Aguero put the Blues defence to the sword in west London.
This was only Hiddink’s second Premier League defeat since returning to the club as interim manager in December.
Chelsea continue to limp towards the finish line as they await the arrival of Italy manager Antonio Conte this summer.
Here’s a look at five things we learned on a terrible evening for the Blues.
Oscar heading for the exit?
There was no sign of Oscar’s name on the Chelsea team sheet today.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Pedro and John Obi Mikel patrolled the midfield for the Blues at Stamford Bridge as Hiddink went with other options.
However, a reported sighting of the Brazilian international leaving the west London venue in the hours leading up to kick off does not look good for his future prospects.
Juventus have repeatedly been linked with a move for the player and his omission from the squad for this one does little to quell the speculation.
Ban for Courtois
Courtois was dropped for last weekend’s defeat at Swansea City as Asmir Begovic stepped into the breach.
He was restored to the starting line-up for the visit of Manuel Pellegrini’s top-four contenders and the rest looks to have done him good.
Courtois has had a poor season by his standards and missing the first half of the campaign was a bitter blow to both the club and the player.
Talk of a move to Real Madrid has only made matters worse but he made a couple of stunning one-on-one stops in the first half before City broke the deadlock.
There was nothing he could have done about either goal.
However, his afternoon ended in despair as he was sent off for bringing down Fernandinho and he will now miss Chelsea’s next fixture.
Baba continues to frustrate
Baba Rahman remains something of an enigma to Chelsea fans.
At times he looked solid enough in the first half against City, but for every decent contribution there was a moment of madness.
Jesus Navas absolutely skinned him at one stage and his passing accuracy left something to be desired.
Rahman came to Chelsea for a big transfer fee and a big reputation forged in Germany. We are yet to see evidence of it in England so far.
The final few games of this campaign could determine whether the Blues persist with the full-back or he follows the same swift exit as Felipe Luis before him.
De Bruyne and Aguero shine
Kevin De Bruyne said he had nothing to prove to Chelsea fans in the lead up to this match.
He left Stamford Bridge for Wolfsburg in 2014 before earning his mega-money move to the Etihad.
But there must have been at least a small part of him keen to show Chelsea fans what he can do after Jose Mourinho failed to given him a proper run in the first team.
The Belgian had showed good awareness to play in Aguero for the opener and was lightning on the counter to launch the attack that led to the striker’s second.
City were so quick on the break and Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic simply couldn’t deal with the away side’s counter-attacking prowess.
Aguero completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot and Chelsea will be glad to see the back of him for the season.
Loftus-Cheek still learning
Ruben Loftus-Cheek had a tough afternoon against some experienced Manchester City midfielders and can’t take plenty away from this game.
It was a battle of the giants in the middle of the park at Stamford Bridge as the Englishman went toe-to-toe with City giant Yaya Toure.
He was given license to get forward and managed to get himself into good positions on several occasions for the Blues.
However, as with so many young players, he lacked that little bit of composure in front of goal and needs to work on his finish.
Chelsea look to have a real gem of a player on their hands though and the towering athlete will only get better with each game.
Watch: Guus Hiddink reflects on heavy defeat to Man City
