Charly Musonda Jr had waited five years for his opportunity and even on his compatriot Eden Hazard’s long-awaited return to the starting line-up, he was not to be upstaged.

The baby-faced forward spent last season on loan at Real Betis but has been forced to sit by patiently for a Chelsea debut ever since arriving at the club as a 15-year-old in 2012. A brilliant performance capped by the third goal as Michy Batshuayi also scored a hat-trick in this thrashing of a poor visiting side ensured it was worth the wait.

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“I think Charly played very well,” the Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte, said. “He’s trying to work a lot to improve his physical impact with this league. Don’t forget this league is very strong in the physical aspect. We are working a lot with Charly in this aspect to be ready to play in this league. For sure, he’s a talented player, and he has to continue in this way. When there is the opportunity, the chance, to help us, he must do this.”

On the 13th anniversary of Brian Clough’s death, the Chelsea pitch announcer had paid tribute to the man who led Forest to two successive European Cups before the match. But this powderpuff display in a competition Clough won four times was a reminder of how far they have fallen, having now failed to reach the fourth round since the year Old Big ’Ead passed away.

Watched from the stands by their owner, Evangelos Marinakis, the Forest manager, Mark Warburton, made eight changes from the side that lost at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday to leave them 10th in the Championship. Conte went one better, as only Gary Cahill and Cesc Fàbregas retained their places after the stalemate against Arsenal at the weekend.

Hazard formed an all-Belgian frontline alongside Batshuayi and the 20-year-old Musonda, one of four brothers to have passed through Chelsea’s academy and the son of a former Zambia midfielder, also called Charly. But it was one of Chelsea’s less vaunted prospects who opened the scoring in the 12th minute, as Kenedy – making his first appearance since being sent home from the pre-season tour to China – timed his run perfectly to meet Antonio Rüdiger’s deep cross at the back post to volley home.

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Batshuayi made it 2-0 six minutes later when Hazard’s clever through ball from the edge of the area found its way to his feet via a deflection. A curling free-kick from the impressive Everton loanee Kieran Dowell that cannoned off the bar was the best Forest could muster in response, before Musonda effectively ended the tie five minutes before half-time as he drilled home Fàbregas’s pass from a tight angle before celebrating his goal with a full swan dive in front of the West stand.

Chelsea picked up where they had left off after the break, with Hazard setting up Batshuayi for his second of the evening after a glorious long pass from Fàbregas. The Spaniard then made way for the 17-year-old Ethan Ampadu, who joined from Exeter City in the summer having broken Cliff Bastin’s record as the youngest player in the club’s history, to make his debut.

Another versatile teenager, Dujon Sterling, was also handed a late cameo at right wing-back for Chelsea as Forest attempted to salvage some pride, which eventually came via the last kick of the game from the substitute Tendayi Darikwa after Batshuayi had completed his hat-trick. But the night belonged to Musonda.