Andriy Shevchenko was on target on his return as Chelsea eased past Aston Villa by four goals to nil in the Carling Cup 4th Round.

Frank Lampard opened the scoring before Sheva headed home the second.

Michael Essien made it 3-0 when he brilliantly finished from 12 yards and Didier Drogba tucked in the fourth converting Salomon Kalou’s pass.

Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea were keen to make amends for their weekend slip-up against by fielding an almost full-strength team.

Drogba, who has arguably been Mourinho’s most consistent performer this season, was unlucky not to have played team-mate Essien in after good work around the area, but saw his final ball cleared by the alert Olof Mellberg.

Villa were sturdy in defence up until 15 minutes before the break when Ballack stole the ball from Steven Davis and delivered an inviting ball for Lampard, who nodded in.

Worse news was to follow for Martin O’Neill’s men just before the break when Barry came off with an injury following a collision with Ricardo Carvalho, while Laursen was substituted before the restart having picked up a knee injury.

Patrik Berger and Liam Ridgewell came into the XI as O’Neill shuffled his team around in hope of an equaliser.

But Chelsea were in no mood to give the visitors an inch with Drogba almost pulling off a picturebook goal with a scissor-kick.

Then Shevchenko, who had been having a relatively quiet game, came to life.The £30m Ukraine striker tested Sorensen with a curling shot from outside the area before not giving the Danish keeper a chance with a well-placed header when he made it 2-0.

Adapted from BBC Sport