Chelsea cruised to the final of the Club World Cup with a comfortable 3-1 win over Mexican club Monterrey.
Juan Mata sent the Blues on their way to the summit clash with Corinthians, with Fernando Torres and a Darwin Chavez own goal early in the second half putting the game to bed. Aldo De Nigris got a late consolation for Monterrey.
The first half began with Chelsea in complete control, as David Luiz, chosen to play as one of the defensive midfielders along with John Obi Mikel, saw plenty of the ball and acted brilliantly as the buffer between the defense and Chelsea's trio of playmakers - Mata, Hazard and Oscar.
Frank Lampard and Ramires were left on the bench, as the European champions tried to flex their muscles against the Mexicans.
It was Hazard who created the Blues' first chance, but his cross was not met perfectly by Fernando Torres. Luis then got in on the act, latching onto a ball from Hazard, before seeing his shot from 25 yards go just over the crossbar.
There has never been doubt about Luiz's ability on the ball, and the Brazilian was showing it in spades against the Mexican side. This time he got away from his marker in the center of midfield, before playing a perfect through ball to Hazard, who curled his shot wide of the target.
A couple more half chances went astray, before Mata struck the opener in the 17th minute. Ashley Cole and Oscar played a one-two, with the latter putting the former through with a nice backheel. Cole picked out Mata at the edge of the box, with the Spanish playmaker having time to take a first touch, before expertly slotting it into the bottom corner with his left foot.
That goal meant Mata has scored for Chelsea in his English Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League and now Club World Cup debuts.
Monterrey then almost made it 1-1 at the other end, but De Nigris headed high and wide from four yards out, under the challenge of Petr Cech, off a nice cross from Jesus Corona.
Torres should have probably made it 2-0 soon after, after being put through by Cole, but the Spaniard took a poor touch with his chest and the chance went with it.
Chelsea were looking OK, but hardly threatening enough to overrun their opponents, with the Mexican side looking like they could nick a goal on the counter. De Nigris fired another header wide towards the end of the first half, as Chelsea went into the break with a 1-0 lead.
However, within 20 seconds of the second period, it was 2-0 as Torres struck, albeit with a huge slice of luck.
Hazard flew down the left, before playing a ball to Torres, whose left-footed shot towards goal took a wicked deflection on its way, leaving keeper Jonathan Orozco with no chance of making a save.
The game was over two minutes later, with another quick attack down the left. This time it was Torres, who played the ball down to left for Mata at the far post. The Spaniard tried to pick out Oscar for a tap in, but the ball struck Chavez on the way and into the empty net.
A moment of brilliance from Hazard a minute later, nearly got Chelsea's fourth, but Orozco made a good save to deny the Belgian. David Luiz then immediately stung the Monterrey goalkeeper's hands as Chelsea looked to add the icing to the cake.
The game expectedly petered out, with the only cheer among the crowd coming when Rafa Benitez introduced Frank Lampard just past the hour for Luiz.
De Nigris got his consolation goal in stoppage time, but it was too little too late to make any sort of dent on the result.
Corinthians now await the European champions, in what promises to be an intriguing final.
