04/12/2002  Chelsea 4 Everton 1
 
Wayne Rooney may represent the future of English football, 
but he was given a footballing lesson by veteran Gianfranco 
Zola at Stamford Bridge.

At 36, Zola is more than twice as old as Rooney, but as 
Chelsea breezed past Everton into the fifth round of the 
Worthington Cup, the Italian more than eclipsed his 
17-year-old opponent.

Zola set up first-half goals for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 
and Emmanuel Petit and also struck the bar before leaving to 
rapturous applause after just 57 minutes with his side 
comfortably in the lead.

Mario Stanic put Chelsea further ahead soon afterwards, 
while Hasselbaink struck a second goal before Rooney's misery 
was then completed when he missed a late penalty.

Then again, the teenager has time on his side and cannot be 
criticised simply for being part of an Everton side who were 
completely outplayed in their biggest defeat of the season.

The task now facing David Moyes is clear - to ensure his 
side perform far better in the Premiership rematch of the two 
sides on Saturday.

To do so, they must raise their standards markedly as this 
was no second-string contest. Instead, it was the rarity of a 
Worthington Cup meeting of two strong Premiership line-ups.

With Rooney given his fifth start of the season out on the 
left flank in a 4-3-3 formation, however, he saw little of the 
ball in the opening half-hour.

The Blues were hardly at their best early on, with passes 
going astray and too many unforced errors, while Zola's 
initial touches were strangely at odds with his later 
artistry.

However, there was no mistaking the inspiration behind 
Chelsea's opening goal as Frank Lampard - the dominant 
midfield force - showed real composure inside his own penalty 
area to turn inside before picking out Zola.

The Italian immediately noticed the forward surge of 
Hasselbaink and played a pinpoint pass into the path of his 
strike partner, who clipped his shot past Richard Wright. 
Everton had a few half-chances of their own, with Mark 
Pembridge volleying wide from Thomas Radzinski's knock-down. 
However, it was not until Rooney switched flanks, as 
Everton settled back into a 4-4-2 formation, that he made his 
first real impression on the game on 31 minutes with a high 
cross that Kevin Campbell headed at Carlo Cudicini.

That was soon followed by a magnificent crossfield ball to 
Pembridge, whom Everton boss David Moyes decided to withdraw 
shortly afterwards for Gary Naysmith.

Still the visitors could not cope with Zola, however, as 
the Chelsea striker chipped a perfect lob to Petit, who just 
beat the offside trap before swivelling onto the ball and 
sending his volley past Wright.

Rooney emerged after the interval with a new role, slotting 
into a central position just behind strikers Campbell and 
Radzinski, who planted his team's next effort straight at 
Cudicini.

Having then lost possession, Rooney attempted to keep up 
with Gronkjaer as Chelsea counter-attacked but was left 
trailing by the pacy Danish winger, who promptly wasted his 
cross in any case.

Zola was, meanwhile, still prompting his side's attacks, 
although just when he thought that he had scored himself, the 
'goal' was ruled out for offside.

Zola then delivered an inswinging free-kick from close to 
the corner flag which clipped the top of the bar but there was 
at least some relief in store for Everton when the Italian was 
taken off.

It was not long before Chelsea were out of sight, however, 
when Stanic rose above Li Tie to head home his side's first 
corner of the game on 68 minutes.

Three minutes later, it was 4-0, with Hasselbaink cutting 
inside to beat Wright from 20 yards out and the result was 
beyond any doubt at all.

There was still time for Cudicini to again demonstrate his 
penalty-saving prowess to deny Rooney from the spot after 
William Gallas had been penalised.

But while Naysmith scored from close range from the ensuing 
corner, it was a night that Everton, and Rooney, would rather 
forget.

Then again, the learning curve continues for a rich talent 
and who better to learn from than the evergreen Zola?