21 September 2024
West Ham 0 Chelsea 3
Life after David Moyes has not got off to the best of starts for West Ham fans. They became tired of what they were seeing under their old manager and demanded change. Since then, The Hammers have struggled and only managed a solitary win so far this season. Chelsea were the visitors to the London Stadium, looking themselves to continue a period of transition.
It is crazy to think that the club felt they were better than what Moyes was achieving after securing a first European trophy in fifty-eight years. Sometimes you don’t realise what you have until it is gone. The club has never lost their first three games at home in a season but defeat against The Blues would mean an unwanted new record for Julen Lopetegui’s side.
West Ham had the first glimpse of goal as Kudus tried his luck from a tight angle. He struck his effort well but it was going to take something special to beat Sanchez from there. As a result the Chelsea stopper blocked and the visitors were able to clear their lines. It had given the home faithful some hope that they could get one over their West London neighbours however.
That then evaporated in the space of a single pass. Sancho played Jackson in down the left and the entire West Ham team seemed focussed on only worrying about who he could pick out in the box. As a result, he made a beeline for goal and slotted the ball through the legs of Areola to give The Blues an early lead in this derby. It was terrible defending from the hosts.
Jackson continued to create problems for The Hammers. He burst down the left once again and cut inside into the box. This time he turned provider as he laid it into the path of Palmer, who swept his shot wide of the far post. Big chance for Chelsea to double their lead. At this point, you could be forgiven for wondering if West Ham even had a defensive coach at the club.
This was proving to be a stroll in the park for Maresca’s side. They were passing it around in the middle of the park like this was a training session. Caicedo threaded a ball through the middle and Jackson ran onto it to bury his shot into the bottom corner to double their lead. The Hammers were parting like the Red Sea as soon as The Blues strayed forward.
Lopetegui’s side thought they had got themselves a lifeline in this game when Kudus picked up a pass in the box. He took one touch to control it, before passing it beyond Sanchez and into the back of the net. The celebrations were short-lived as the goal was ruled out for offside. Replays showed this was in fact the correct decision, the winger had set off too early.
Just before the interval Kudus was causing problems once again. He cut the ball back from the byline to pick out Soucek in the box. He drilled a shot at goal but it was straight at Sanchez, who made a comfortable save. Everything in this first half had looked all too easy for the visitors and The Hammers’ manager needed to change things during the break.
The hosts began to press early on after the interval but as the move broke down, Chelsea simply passed their way through them. It was that easy. One touch passing saw Jackson running through on goal again, but this time he laid it off to Palmer on his left. He made no mistake this time and his effort clipped the inside of the post before ending in the back of the net. Game over.
West Ham huffed and puffed in this game but just could not create anything of note. Bowen did a good impression of the invisible man all afternoon until he finally had a touch of the ball. Looking to cut the ball back from the byline, he drilled a cross straight at Sanchez, who blocked it. The Hammers were playing like a team trying to get their manager sacked.
As Chelsea came forward again, a deep cross picked out Colwill at the back post. He unselfishly headed it back across goal to find Nkunku. His header was clawed out of the goal by Areola but he really should be scoring from there. He was three yards out, in the middle of the goal, completely unmarked. Not that The Blues will be bothered given the scoreline.
It was an easy win for Chelsea, they will struggle to have a more comfortable game this season. If what we saw in the capital was the Julen Lopetegui era, West Ham are in trouble. Rumours are that Danny Dyer cancelled the family’s Sunday lunch plans at the final whistle simply texting his daughter a message saying ‘tomorrow’s off, haven’t seen any hunger from Jarrod anyway.’
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