Torres Hat-trick Steers Chelsea Past QPR

Torres Hat-trick Steers Chelsea Past QPR
Jojo Doria

London, England

Fernando Torres recorded his first hat-trick in roughly three years, powering Chelsea to a swashbuckling 6-1 victory over Queens Park Rangers Sunday at Stamford Bridge.

Fresh from beating traditional powerhouse Barcelona to book its place in the UEFA Champions League finals, Chelsea came into the game in full strength as they totally abused Queens Park's defense.

Daniel Sturridge (1st minute) and John Terry (13th minute) opened things up for the Blues before Torres racked up three straight goals.

Torres, who struggled in his first months with Chelsea, proved to be great pick-up for the Blues as the Spanish striker begins to pile up strings of goals - including the crucial goal against Barcelona - in the most important stage of the season.

Torres delivered his first hat-trick since September of 2009 and also his first with Chelsea, boosting up his English Premier League goal tally with the ballclub to six.

Florent Malouda capped a six-goal juggernaut for Chelsea while Djibril Cissé scored for Queens Park in the 84th minute as the Rangers barely avoided a complete shutdown.

With the victory, Chelsea (17-10-8, 61 pts) is just a point behind Newcastle (18-8-9, 62 pts) and Tottenham (18-8-9, 62 pts), who came through a 2-0 win over the Blackburn Rovers Sunday.

Chelsea, set to face Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League finals, will have to beat the Magpies in Wednesday's crucial tiff to give them a good chance at qualifying for next year's Champions League tourney.