Chelsea seized another victory on the road with goals from Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer, defeating West Ham 3-0 in the Premier League and raising serious doubts regarding the future trajectory under recently appointed manager, Julen Lopetegui.
The Spanish manager’s dismay was evident as his richly-gathered team fell to a humbling loss to their fellow London team. A pair of goals from Jackson, with one being early in the match and a third by Palmer immediately after half-time, led to the defeat.
Lopetegui’s £120 million spending spree on nine new players over the summer after taking over from David Moyes has yielded disappointing results, including three losses at home, a narrow victory at Crystal Palace, and a late draw with Fulham.
Five games into the season and the audience at London Stadium, many of whom had been calling for Moyes’ dismissal despite him being at the helm during one of the club’s most successful periods, were already expressing their dissatisfaction towards the new coach during the second half.
Boos resounded through the stadium when Lopetegui decided to substitute Crysencio Summerville, who was not the poorest performer. As he watched his previous team collapse, Moyes might have been relieved about his timely departure.
In contrast, things are looking rather bright for Chelsea under Enzo Maresca who have clinched a third consecutive away victory, momentarily taking them to second place in the standings.
The tone of a difficult afternoon for West Ham was set with Chelsea’s initial attack after a free-kick found Jackson on the left. The Senegal striker skillfully maneuvered past the defense and scored past West Ham’s goalkeeper, Alphonse Areola.
Jackson had his second goal 15 minutes later, marking his fourth season goal and his fourth against West Ham in just three games. A pass from Moises Caicedo saw Jackson skillfully navigate through the defense of Hammers centre backs Max Kilman and Konstantinos Mavropanos and score past Areola.
Although West Ham had been underwhelming, they threatened to lessen the gap when Jarrod Bowen missed a promising opportunity over the crossbar.
Despite Summerville falling in the penalty area as a result of a conflict with Wesley Fofana, the VAR penalty review favoured Chelsea, dismissing it as a ‘non-continuous tug’. Afterwards, the hosts’ brief moment of joy was cut short when Mohammed Kudus’ goal was ruled out for offside.
Evidently, Lopetegui’s half-time pep talk had little to no impact. Within 70 seconds after the restart, Chelsea clinched their third goal.
Jackson navigated past the rapidly retreating defence of West Ham, passing the ball to Palmer. Palmer skillfully avoided Kilman and then netted his second goal of the season.
Areola curtailed further humiliation by skillfully blocking Christopher Nkunku’s header, but it was already too late to heal the inflicted injuries. The deafening sound of the spectators’ disappointment at the end of the match clearly depicted an unfortunate series of events for the home team.