At the final whistle there was a touching moment when Mesut Ozil ran towards Jose Mourinho and handed him his jersey. Last night, Chelsea’s manager had the shirts off Arsenal’s back. There is nothing for Mourinho to be afraid of here, nothing to suggest the Gunners have his side’s staying power. The ‘psychological influence’ that Arsene Wenger spoke of ahead of this Capital One Cup tie was stripped away with a swing of Juan Mata’s right boot in the 65th minute.

Chelsea are through to the quarter-final of this competition and yet it feels like something so much bigger took place in English football.

Arsenal have lost to two proper teams under the lights at the Emirates inside a week. First Dortmund, now Chelsea. Not good enough.

Wenger will only breathe easily if the Barclays Premier League leaders recover to beat Liverpool in Saturday’s teatime kick-off. They made a dog’s dinner of this, frustrating their fans by allowing Mourinho’s team to dictate the tempo and pace of the game in their own backyard. Champions don’t allow that to happen. Wannabe champions do.

Chelsea kept Arsenal at arm’s length, easing their way through to the quarter-final with Cesar Azpilicueta’s first for the club and Mata’s beauty. Wenger had never beaten Mourinho in eight attempts before last night. It will be agony for Arsenal to do it, but the Frenchman must now add another.

Chelsea’s back-up keeper Mark Schwarzer barely had a save to make, an observer as blue shirts swarmed all over Arsenal. They fell behind after a dreadful defensive mistake by Carl Jenkinson allowed Azpilicueta to nip in and beat Lukasz Fabianski with a cool finish.

It sent Chelsea’s travelling fans into raptures, and they taunted Arsenal with one of their favourite songs: ‘Where’s your European Cup’?

The answer is nowhere, of course. After this they will not even be able to add the Capital One Cup. The agony goes on. It sparked reminders of Mourinho, then at Real Madrid, demanding to know why Wenger was still in a job after failing to land ‘a single little trophy since 2005’.

The Capital One Cup is fourth on Mourinho’s list of priorities, but he has a real affinity with a trophy he first won with Chelsea in 2005.

They are looking good, full of self-assurance and more than a hint of that familiar Chelsea swagger as they settle down for the season.

When Azpilicueta scored in the 25th minute, after a terrible defensive header by Jenkinson, they looked as they could score whenever they fancied it. It was too easy. Essien and Samuel Eto’o engineered it, breaking at speed in the centre of the pitch when an Arsenal corner broke down. Aaron Ramsey challenged Essien and when the ball spun into the air it forced Jenkinson into a catastrophic attempt to head the ball back to Fabianski. It didn’t reach him.

Azpilicueta took his chance, steering his effort beyond the Arsenal keeper and rolling it inside Fabianski’s far post. That was his first for Chelsea and he celebrated with a swan-dive in front of the home fans. Nothing went Arsenal’s way.

Bendtner’s touch let him down, making life too easy for Essien and John Mikel Obi to sweep up in front of the Chelsea’s back four. He was booed off when he was substituted, but he alone is not to blame for this performance. Santi Cazorla’s passes were a fraction too long and Tomas Rosicky was having the same problem when he was in possession. They needed precision.

That was Arsenal’s trouble every time they played the final ball. It was nearly there, but nearly is not good enough against a team with Chelsea’s pedigree. The fact that it’s the fourth round of the League Cup is irrelevant. There is never any let-up against Chelsea. Against Mourinho. Against their fans, who were baiting Arsenal supporters from the stands.

The game had its moments of genuine high-quality. Mata’s elegant backheel 10 minutes into the first half made fools of Cazorla and Ramsey.

Cazorla exacted revenge on Chelsea’s creator, twisting like an eel and scurrying away with the ball when Arsenal were in trouble on the edge of their own area. But this was not the performance of potential champions. Far from it. The moment Chelsea sensed danger in the second half, they moved into a different gear and accelerated out of sight.

They scored again when Ryan Bertrand’s throw-in was flicked on by Eto’o and into the path of the onrushing figure of Mata.

It was not a simple finish, but he made it look easy. He took a touch with his left foot and hammered it beyond Fabianski with his right. It was a peach. Wenger had sent for Ozil, who worked with Mourinho during his spell at Real Madrid, from the bench to bring them back into it.

There was not nearly enough time. Respect to Ramsey for running his legs off. He was deep in the red zone when Arsenal went down to 10 men against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday.

Wenger called in a favour last night, starting him in the centre of midfield in an attempt to muzzle Essien and Mikel. He’s almost out of juice.

Even Ozil, for all his obvious skill and craft, couldn’t find a way to prevent Chelsea powering on. After this, you can put your shirt on Mourinho’s team.

— Daily Mail