The midfielder himself put in one of his brightest displays since switching Merseyside for London just over two years ago, with the numbers backing up what appeared to be an-action performance in the middle of the park.

‘We were brilliant,’ the 26-year-old said of the team effort. ‘We had a great result in midweek and this was what we needed, another strong result at home, a clean sheet and a brilliant performance.

‘Mason’s goal was brilliant and that has been coming for him as well. Not only that, a lot of players chipped in with goals and we had a lot of chances. You could see on the pitch we were playing with confidence and hopefully we can continue with that now.’

Also among the goals was Willian, who netted our third of the afternoon and his seventh of the campaign with a crisp drive into the bottom corner in the second half. Just like Barkley, the Brazilian was content with a good day’s work.

‘It was a very good day, a good performance,’ he reflected. ‘From the beginning we started the game very well, we had control of the game, we had passion to move the ball between the lines and we created a lot of chances.

‘We could have scored more, maybe 5-0 or 6-0, but I’m very happy with our performance.’

With the game wrapped up heading into the final half an hour, Frank Lampard even handed out Premier League debuts to teenagers Tino Anjorin and Armando Broja, though it was Billy Gilmour starting in central midfield once again who continued to receive the plaudits from pundits and team-mates alike.

‘He's a brilliant player and he’s shown that in training, from last season to now,’ revealed Barkley. ‘He showed that fearlessness out there and you can see the quality he’s got. With more games, he’s going to improve and the quality he’s going to show will get better as well.

‘The future is bright. It’s good, it keeps us on our toes. This was fantastic and we’ve got to focus on the games ahead now. Top four is our target and as each game comes, we take our game plan into it and try to execute it the way we need to.’

Read: Billy Gilmour on trusting his own ability and loving life at Chelsea