CHELSEA 6 COVENTRY 1
The Dutch striker made it a day to forget for Coventry who were never in the game once they fell behind on 22 minutes.
Coventry's 19-year-old keeper Chris Kirkland had made two spectacular saves to deny Hasselbaink early on but his day was doomed to end in disaster.
He made the slightest of contacts to bring down Hasselbaink inside the area and referee Stephen Lodge pointed to the spot before dismissing Kirkland on only his second League start. The first task for his replacement, on-loan Alan Miller, was to pick up the ball from the back of the net as the striker picked himself up to convert from the spot.
The chances continued to flow thick and fast for Chelsea, with Hasselbaink curling another shot around Miller's post then just failing to reach Tore Andre Flo's through-ball with the keeper beaten.
Another goal looked on the cards and three minutes from the break Chelsea bagged the second goal their dominance merited. Latching on to a long ball from Desailly, Hasselbaink beat three defenders down the left flank before cutting inside and curling an unstoppable shot into the top corner.
Any hopes of a Coventry fight-back were killed off two minutes after the break. Dalla Bona released Zola and his angled shot bobbled over the line via the inside of a post.
Zola was involved in the fourth goal just four minutes later. Miller saved his shot but the loose ball ran to Hasselbaink who tapped in for his first Chelsea hat-trick.
The chances kept coming and before the hour mark Hasselbaink scored again. Melchiot and Flo combined to set him free and he turned Breen before beating Miller.
With Chelsea pouring forward, their new £1.7m signing Slavisa Jokanovic came on for his first appearance since joining from Deportivo La Coruna. And within seconds of his arrival, Tore Andre-Flo nodded home Babayaro's cross to inflict more misery on the ten-man visitors.
Coventry had created little at the other end but they did gain some consolation with a solitary reply before the end. Chelsea keeper Ed De Goey obviously had some sympathy for Gordon Strachan's side and he gifted possession to Cedric Roussel on the edge of his area, leaving the Belgian striker with a simple tap-in.
