Nicolas Jackson scored twice and produced an assist for Cole Palmer as Chelsea continued their impressive start to life under Enzo Maresca with a 3-0 win over local rivals West Ham United at the London Stadium.
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Jackson needed only 18 minutes to breach a porous West Ham defence twice, breaking in behind to produce two composed finishes and leave the hosts with a mountain to climb.
Julen Lopetegui's team briefly improved before half-time but their hopes of a comeback were dashed almost immediately after the interval. Jackson turned provider for Cole Palmer's second Premier League goal of the season.
In truth, Maresca's men could have won by a greater margin as they extended their unbeaten run to four league matches, moving fourth in the table with 10 points.
West Ham's third successive home defeat leaves them in 14th spot, with four points from five matches under Lopetegui.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
11 | +15 | 28 |
| 2 |
Man City
MCI
|
11 | +9 | 23 |
| 3 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
11 | +8 | 19 |
| 4 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
11 | +6 | 19 |
| 5 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
11 | +5 | 19 |
How the match unfolded
Jackson caught West Ham cold with the opener inside four minutes, slotting his finish through Alphonse Areola's legs after being played in by Jadon Sancho, who was making his first Chelsea start after assisting Christopher Nkunku's winner at AFC Bournemouth last Sunday.
Fourteen minutes later, Jackson had his and Chelsea's second, finishing with the outside of his boot after receiving a pinpoint through-ball from Moises Caicedo.
West Ham thought they had one back with 32 minutes gone, but Mohammed Kudus strayed offside before finding the bottom-left corner, with the on-field decision to disallow the goal confirmed by the VAR.
Chelsea started the second half even faster than they began the first, with Jackson slicing through the hosts then teeing up Palmer to find the goal with a near-post finish just 68 seconds after the restart.
Noni Madueke should have added a fourth when West Ham were caught short on the break again on the hour, but Areola was able to parry his low drive.
Areola was called upon again to prevent further damage with 15 minutes to play, making a stunning reflex save to keep out Nkunku's header, but that could not put a dampener on an enjoyable outing for Chelsea.
Jackson and Sancho leading new-look Chelsea
Much was made of Chelsea's choice to double down on their busy approach to recruitment in the recent transfer window, but there have already been positive signs under Maresca, whose only defeat at the helm came against champions Manchester City on the opening matchday.
Following a 6-2 rout of Wolverhampton Wanderers and last week's hard-fought 1-0 victory at Bournemouth, Maresca is the first manager since Pep Guardiola in 2016 to win his first three away games in the Premier League.
A strong start to life on the road for Enzo Maresca at @ChelseaFC 🛣️ pic.twitter.com/AUJwW1U0RA
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 21, 2024
For that, he had Jackson and Sancho to thank, the duo dovetailing brilliantly in the early stages as the Blues cut through West Ham time and again.
Jackson displayed rapid thinking in the build-up to his opener, taking a quick free-kick in midfield with the Hammers napping, then playing one-twos with both Enzo Fernandez and Sancho before finishing neatly.
Another predatory finish brought up his fourth Premier League goal of the season and he added an assist for Palmer's strike after the break. Sancho was a constant threat on the Blues' left, showing the self-confidence and incision that evaded him in three difficult years with Manchester United.
Maresca has plenty of attacking options to call upon as he oversees Chelsea's latest rebuild, but Jackson and Sancho have wasted no time in staking their claims for key roles in the Blues' new era.
Lopetegui's slow start continues
With Aston Villa, Man City and Chelsea the opponents for West Ham's first three home matches of 2024/25, Lopetegui may not have expected a flying start to his tenure at the London Stadium.
However, the Spaniard has now suffered the ignominy of becoming the first West Ham manager in history to oversee three straight home defeats to start a league campaign.
The nature of Saturday's loss will surely concern Lopetegui, whose decision to have Edson Alvarez drop into a centre-back position when Chelsea had possession allowed them to pick West Ham's undermanned midfield apart with ease early on.
Just 38 minutes had gone when Lopetegui sacrificed Guido Rodriguez to introduce Tomas Soucek, but by that point, much of the damage had already been done.
With another London derby at Brentford next up for his men, Lopetegui will be demanding major improvements.
See: West Ham report | Chelsea report
Next Premier League fixtures
What the managers said:
Julen Lopetegui: "It was a bad day, for sure. We lost. It was one match that we had a big expectation to compete much better and to be able to win. I have to review the match but it was very soft goals that we suffered in the first 20 minutes."
Enzo Maresca: "It was a good game, a good result and the clean sheet was important, but I have said many times, we have many things we can improve. We can attack better, we can defend better, but overall we are [heading] in the right direction. Since I arrived he [Nicolas Jackson] is working very good, on the ball in terms of numbers of goals and assists, off the ball in the way he works. Today he has been important because he scored twice, but also he did fantastically off the ball and we are very happy."
Match facts
Enzo Maresca is only the eighth manager in Premier League history to win each of his first three away matches in the competition, and is the first to do so since Pep Guardiola in September 2016. Indeed, Chelsea have won five consecutive away top-flight matches for the first time since December 2021 under Thomas Tuchel.
West Ham have begun a league campaign with three consecutive home defeats for the first time in the club’s history.
Since Cole Palmer made his debut for Chelsea in September 2023, only Erling Haaland (44) has scored more goals for a Premier League club in all competitions than the Englishman (27).
West Ham have conceded five goals in the opening five minutes of Premier League matches in 2024, at least three more than any other side.