Nicolas Jackson had a hand in all three goals as Chelsea put West Ham United to the sword on Saturday afternoon. Chelsea struck early in the first-half and sucker-punched West Ham immediately after the break to put the game beyond doubt.
The win sees Chelsea go fourth in the Premier League table, just two points adrift of leaders Liverpool and Manchester City. West Ham, however, are as close to the relegation zone as the top-half. It’s their heaviest defeat of the season and the second time in three weeks that they’ve conceded three goals.
Chelsea started fast
Chelsea got off to the perfect start, taking the lead inside of four minutes through Nicolas Jackson. The 23-year-old was played through down the left flank by Jadon Sancho and bore down on goal before nutmegging Alphonse Areola.
Jackson played a lovely give-and-go with Sancho that split the defence in two, and nobody was fast enough to catch him. Jackson nearly went from goalscorer to creator after teeing up Cole Palmer, but his effort went agonisingly wide of the post.
It went from bad to worse for West Ham in the 18th minute, however, as Chelsea doubled their lead through Jackson again. He was put through on goal by Moises Caicedo and made no mistake one-on-one. West Ham’s defence was in pieces and looking disjointed, but they kept the score down until the break.
West Ham had no answer
Chelsea wasted no time in making it 3-0, scoring just minutes after the restart. A quick counter attack led by Jackson saw him tee up Palmer who fired into the far corner.
Chelsea nearly scored another goal on the break, defending a West Ham set piece and turning over possession through Noni Madueke. He laid the ball to Palmer and received it back but couldn’t find a way past Areola.
It was a convincing win for Chelsea, and West Ham should consider themselves lucky it wasn’t more.
