If this was goodbye for Eden Hazard and Maurizio Sarri, then it was a stylish farewell.

Key points: Chelsea beat Arsenal 4-1 in the Europa League final at the Baku Olympic Stadium

Chelsea beat Arsenal 4-1 in the Europa League final at the Baku Olympic Stadium The victory earns the first major trophy for Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri

The victory earns the first major trophy for Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri The final had been marred in controversy due to its location in Azerbaijan

For Petr Cech, it was the worst way to retire.

Hazard scored twice past his former teammate as Chelsea sliced through Arsenal in the second half of the Europa League final on Wednesday night, netting four times in the space of 23 minutes to win 4-1 in a London derby played far from home.

The Belgian then confirmed he was likely to leave the club this summer, amid widespread speculation of a move to Real Madrid.

"I think it is a goodbye but in football you never know," Hazard told British broadcaster BT Sport.

"My dream was to play in the Premier League. I did this for seven years for one of the biggest clubs in the world. Maybe it's time for a new challenge."

After a drab first half, Chelsea took control in the 49th minute when Olivier Giroud met Emerson's pass with a diving header into the net.

It was the French striker's 11th goal in 14 games in the Europa League this season, but he barely celebrated against his old team, kneeling with palms raised as his teammates mobbed him.

Olivier Giroud scored against his former side on the biggest stage. ( AP: Luca Bruno )

"These two clubs changed my life," Giroud said.

"They gave me the opportunity to play in the Premier League. I didn't want to celebrate against Arsenal but I am so proud to win this trophy with Chelsea."

Pedro doubled the lead when he found space in the penalty area in the 60th to stroke in a cut-back pass from Hazard.

It was soon 3-0 when Hazard converted a penalty after Ainsley Maitland-Niles — the only English player to start the all-English final — shoved Giroud in the box.

Two minutes after coming off the bench, Alex Iwobi punished Chelsea for a poor clearance with a volley from the edge of the box to make it 3-1 in the 69th.

But Arsenal's hopes of a comeback were extinguished three minutes later when Hazard and Giroud teamed up again, Hazard first passing the ball to Giroud and then knocking his flicked cross past Cech, the veteran goalkeeper who was playing his final game before retiring.

Petr Cech has pulled on the gloves for both sides in the past. ( AP: Dmitri Lovetsky )

Facing the team where he spent his best years — and is expected to return this summer in an administrative role — Cech made good saves from Hazard and substitute Willian to stop Chelsea increasing its lead yet further.

It was the first trophy for Sarri, the Chelsea coach who did not rule out leaving the club on Tuesday when asked about the vacant Juventus coach job, after falling out with sections of the club's fans.

"We've had some ups and downs but we've improved, learned a lot and finished very well. Sarri is a great guy, a great person and a great coach, so he deserves it," defender David Luiz said.

Arsenal now faces a third consecutive season outside the Champions League, which could hurt its ability to attract transfer targets in the summer.

With several thousand empty seats and only about 6,000 fans from England, the atmosphere in the stadium struggled to match that of a typical European final.

Arsenal and Chelsea fans had complained of the high cost of travel from western Europe, and even though locals and fans from elsewhere in the world made up the numbers, the atmosphere was subdued, even flat.

Livening up the Baku Olympic Stadium will be a tricky task for Azerbaijani's organisers for the four European Championship games it hosts next year.

For English soccer, this was just the curtain-raiser in a week showing the Premier League's dominance.

On Saturday, Tottenham and Liverpool contest the Champions League final in Madrid.

AP