Chelsea ruthlessly exposed Everton to keep the defence of their Women’s Super League title firmly in their own hands with four games remaining.
Guro Reiten, Sam Kerr, Pernille Harder, Sophie Ingle and Jessie Fleming scored in the first half as Chelsea maintained their perfect home record in the WSL.
Harder and Erin Cuthbert stretched the lead to seven after the break.
Chelsea move into second place in the table, four points behind Manchester United, with two games in hand.
Everton, who host Arsenal in their next game, remain in sixth in the table.
The Blues will retain their title if they win their last four matches of the season, and manager Emma Hayes says her side are timing their run to achieve success.
“It’s about peaking for the right moments in the season,” Hayes told Sky Sports.
“We’ve been chasing in the league all year and we know we have to be perfect to win the league this year but this was the sort of performance, and the goals, that we needed to help us kick on.”
Giant step towards a fourth consecutive title
When the Blues narrowly slipped out of the Champions League in Barcelona last month, the formula became simple: win the remaining six games of the season and deliver a league and cup double.
Victory over Liverpool on Wednesday was the first hurdle successfully overcome and the Blues were quickly into their stride against the other top flight side from Merseyside.
Reiten opened the scoring with a clinical finish as she took a touch to set herself inside the area before smashing an angled finish past Courtney Brosnan.
Kerr got in on the act shortly after with a leaping header to meet Niamh Charles’ delicious cross although the Australian appeared to land awkwardly as she came back down to earth and had to be replaced soon after.
Harder was introduced off the bench to fill the void and the Danish forward could not have asked for a better impact as she added a third goal with her first touch in the game after a sublime first-time finish with her left foot.
More Chelsea pressure and more panicked Everton defending saw Jessie Fleming remain composed as she set the ball back for Ingle to deliver a fourth goal with a guided side-foot finish from outside the box.
And the hosts were not done there as Fleming turned from provider to goalscorer with a sweeping strike from Harder’s cutback inside the area.
Hayes says she was pleased with her side’s efficiency in front of goal.
She added: “We were really clinical, we scored three goals from four shots which was efficient but the performance in the first 20 minutes, not acceptable.
“I thought we struggled to get hold of the game, we didn’t put pressure on the ball so we had to adjust that.“We have a cup final next week, everyone wants to play. You see Pernille Harder coming back. We’ve missed a lot of goals this season without her and Fran Kirby.”
Everton’s challenge was over in the first half but they improved after the break as they seemed to accept the inevitability of defeat and played with more freedom.
Chelsea were coasting and did not have the same cutting edge until Harder stretched the lead with another first-time finish, but with her right foot.
Cuthbert added a late seventh as Chelsea doubled the number of away goals Everton had conceded all season in one afternoon at Kingsmeadow.
The Blues host Leicester in their next league game before facing title rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final at a sold-out Wembley Stadium on 14 May.
Line-ups
Chelsea Women
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Musovic
- 15PérissetSubstituted forAbdullinaat 45′minutes
- 18Mjelde
- 16Eriksson
- 21CharlesSubstituted forCarterat 72′minutes
- 17Fleming
- 5Ingle
- 19Rytting Kaneryd
- 28CankovicSubstituted forCuthbertat 63′minutes
- 11ReitenSubstituted forJamesat 45′minutes
- 20KerrSubstituted forHarderat 32′minutes
Substitutes
- 7Carter
- 8Leupolz
- 10James
- 22Cuthbert
- 23Harder
- 27Abdullina
- 30Berger
Everton Women
Formation 4-3-3
- 18Brosnan
- 20FinniganSubstituted forStenevikat 82′minutes
- 4Sevecke
- 5Björn
- 2VejeSubstituted forHolmgaardat 53′minutes
- 7Wheeler
- 10Bennison
- 28HolmgaardSubstituted forChristiansenat 53′minutes
- 14Sørensen
- 25SnoeijsSubstituted forMaierat 69′minutes
- 22Galli
Substitutes
- 8Christiansen
- 12Ramsey
- 21Maier
- 23Holmgaard
- 27Stenevik
- 55Wilding
Live Text
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Match ends, Chelsea Women 7, Everton Women 0.
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Second Half ends, Chelsea Women 7, Everton Women 0.
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Attempt missed. Hanna Bennison (Everton Women) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Nicoline Sørensen.
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Attempt missed. Pernille Harder (Chelsea Women) with an attempt from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Alsu Abdullina.
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Goal! Chelsea Women 7, Everton Women 0. Erin Cuthbert (Chelsea Women) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner.
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Attempt missed. Lauren James (Chelsea Women) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is close, but misses the top left corner. Assisted by Sophie Ingle.
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Johanna Rytting Kaneryd (Chelsea Women) hits the left post with a right footed shot from the right side of the box. Assisted by Pernille Harder.
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Lauren James (Chelsea Women) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Rikke Sevecke (Everton Women).
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Jessie Fleming (Chelsea Women) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Clare Wheeler (Everton Women).
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Attempt missed. Nicoline Sørensen (Everton Women) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Aurora Galli.
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Johanna Rytting Kaneryd (Chelsea Women) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Foul by Sara Holmgaard (Everton Women).
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Erin Cuthbert (Chelsea Women) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Izzy Christiansen (Everton Women).
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Substitution, Everton Women. Elise Stenevik replaces Megan Finnigan.
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Goal! Chelsea Women 6, Everton Women 0. Pernille Harder (Chelsea Women) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Erin Cuthbert.
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Attempt saved. Lauren James (Chelsea Women) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
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Corner, Chelsea Women. Conceded by Clare Wheeler.