The king is dead, long live the king. Chelsea’s fifth win in a row, by a crushing margin, was the most convincing proof yet that there is life after Jose Mourinho. Not just life but fun, as his successor Avram Grant demands. Didier Drogba’s two goals underline the fact that normal service has been resumed at Stamford Bridge. There has been speculation that English football’s most potent centre-forward would like to follow his erstwhile mentor out of the door marked exit, but there was no sign of that here, Drogba scoring two goals and terrorising the City defence with a towering performance that left England’s Micah Richards abject in embarrassment.

In what was Chelsea’s biggest win for 10 years, since they defeated Barnsley 6-0 in the Yorkshire club’s first match in the top division, the others to fill their boots were Michael Essien, Salomon Kalou, Joe Cole and Andriy Shevchenko. With a more accurate final pass, chiefly from Kalou, the margin could have reached double figures.

Roman Abramovich’s decision to jettison Mourinho in search of a more adventurous style of play was much criticised by the fans at the time, but none were complaining last night after a compelling, cohesive victory which had a pleasing passing game at its core.

Frank Lampard, back to his best, was the man of the match, wielding the conductor’s baton to decisive effect in midfield. City arrived full of hope after a promising start to the season but left with tails lodged firmly between their legs, nursing the most comprehensive defeat of Sven-Göran Eriksson’s long managerial career. “I have never lost 6-0 before,” the former England coach said.

“The worst result until this was when I was at Gothenburg, many years ago, and we were beaten 5-1 by Arsenal in the old Cup Winners’ Cup.” Eriksson bemoaned the fact that five of the six goals came in the inside-right channel, with the scorer one-on-one with the goalkeeper. “Our defending was awful,” he said.

For Chelsea, in contrast, this was about as good as it gets. What had Grant, the self-styled “Ordinary One”, done to bring about such an improvement? “In training we are concentrating on attacking football,” he said. “People come here to have fun, and it is important not just to win games – just as important is the way we win. We can’t do it in every game, but in modern football people come to have a good time and enjoy the spectacle.” Music, no doubt, to Abramovich’s ears.

City began well enough, but their confidence was punctured in the 16th minute when a cohesive passing move by Chelsea culminated in Lampard playing in Essien, who evaded Richards and scored with a firm, low shot from the right that arrowed across Hart, beating the keeper’s reaching right hand before nestling in the corner of the net. It was a well taken goal from one of the Premier League’s best midfielders, and it could have been 2-0 little more than a minute later when Drogba went past Richard Dunne before delivering a left-wing cross which merited a better finish than Kalou’s inaccurate glancing header that flew wide of the far post.

City threatened with a 25-yard free kick from Martin Petrov which had Peter Cech flying high to his right, but it was Chelsea who were in charge and after 31 minutes they were rewarded again when Lampard’s clever, bending pass from the left took out Richards in the middle, leaving Drogba with space in which to score with a natural finisher’s aplomb, again from right to left.

Lampard took special pleasure in his contribution, having just had an exchange of unpleasantries with Richards, sparked when the City defender accused his England teammate of diving in the penalty area. The exchange resulted in both players being shown yellow cards by referee Mike Riley.

The third goal, which effectively removed City from contention but was only the start of their embarrassment, arrived 10 minutes after half-time, when Lampard seemed certain to score, only for Hart to get his right boot to the ball. Unfortunately for the goalkeeper, it fell obligingly for Drogba, who evaded Dunne before thumping in his second at a velocity that brooked no argument.

Drogba should have had his hat-trick before Cole made it four on the hour. An overhead kick by Alex found its way via Drogba’s head to the England midfielder, who ran on with pace and purpose in the inside-right channel before driving low into Hart’s left-hand corner from the 18-yard line.

Still Chelsea weren’t finished and went in search of more. The fifth saw Essien’s through pass into the same area enable Kalou to shoot home from closer in, and the sixth, in the last minute, came when Shevchenko, on as a substitute for Joe Cole, drilled home a pass from Essien. Grant loved it, even managing to crack a rare smile. “I enjoyed the way we played,” he said.

Would the fans ever chant his name, as they had Mourinho’s? “I don’t know about that – you try singing my name.” Altogether now: “One Avram Grant . . . ”

Star man: Frank Lampard (Chelsea)

Player ratings:

Chelsea: Cech 6, Belletti 7, Carvalho 6, Alex 6, Ferreira 7, J Cole 7 (Shevchenko 67min), Essien 7, Lampard 9, Mikel 6, Kalou 5, Drogba 7 (Pizarro 76min)

Manchester City: Hart 5, Corluka 5, Dunne 5, Richards 4, Garrido 4, Ireland 5 (Vassell 63min), Hamann 5 (Ball 66min), Johnson 5, Petrov 5, Elano 6 (Bianchi 73min), Samaras 4