Match Report: Chelsea shred West Ham 5-1 to kick season into gear | OneFootball

After a first weekend false start, Chelsea tore apart West Ham 5-1 at the London Stadium tonight to get their season underway.

It all could have been so different – when Cole Palmer was ruled out in the warmup there was a nervy feeling around. When West Ham scored the opener, things really were on the verge of falling apart as a hesitant home crowd finally got behind their team. Once again, Robert Sanchez’s role in the goal could be questioned.

But Joao Pedro’s firm header from a corner got Chelsea back into the game and deflated their opposition and their support entirely. The Hammers almost made a game of it again with a goal that was ultimately ruled out for offside, but once that was chalked off they crumbled.

Chelsea added a second through Pedro Neto and a third through Enzo Fernandez before the first half was out. West Ham fans streamed for the exits before there were 25 minutes on the clock.

From that point, it was all just a bit of fun for the Blues. They scored two more early in the second half, both from horrific flappy goalkeeping from new Hammers keeper Mads Hermansen. Blues fans who aren’t happy with Sanchez would do well to remember it wasn’t long ago that we were being linked with the Dane as a potential replacement.

The game was so dead at that point that there was even time for long term injury absentee Wesley Fofana to come on and get 25 minutes of match action in his legs, and for Jorrel Hato to make a Premier League debut as a sub for his new team.

A great evening out – for Chelsea, at least.

MOTM – Estevao Willian

Analysis

Estevao Willian takes on West Ham defenders. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Chelsea needed to find their rhythm in this game, and they certainly did. West Ham made it easy for them, of course, but the Blues still needed to make the most of that advantage.

In the game against Crystal Palace a solid opposition block stifled our attacking players. Here we were afforded far more space by a team who were afraid to press us and not organised to defend deep against us.

The likes of Pedro Neto and Estevao Willian were able to break lines running, while the defenders and midfielders were able to thread passes through a disjointed West Ham team. Joao Pedro, deployed between the lines as a number 10, was excellent, picking up an assist with a chipped cross as well as a goal.

Moises Caicedo, as ever, was superb breaking up play and stopping the home team picking up any momentum.

Teams

West Ham

Substitutes: Fabianski, Mavropanos, Cresswell, Alvarez, Rodriguez, Summerville, Ings, Antonio

Chelsea

Substitutes: Bettinelli, Beach, Badiashile, Disasi, Fernandez, Casadei, Nkunku, Mudryk, Guiu

Stats

Quote of the game:

“The media are there to say things, and people in general. The ones that say we are just “Cole Palmer FC”. Cole is our best player, we are a much, much better team with him. But we already showed last season when Cole wasn’t 100% and we achieved top four that we can play without him.” – Enzo Maresca, paraphrased post-game.