West Ham in Crisis After 5-1 Thrashing by Ruthless Chelsea

West Ham’s poor start to the season continued as they were convincingly beaten 5-1 by Chelsea at the London Stadium. The heavy defeat means the Hammers have now conceded eight goals in their opening two fixtures, piling the pressure on manager Graham Potter.

Chelsea were dealt an early setback when Cole Palmer dropped out of the squad just before kick-off after picking up an injury.

Things worsened for them in the fifth minute when Lucas Paquetá unleashed a stunning strike from distance to give West Ham the lead.

However, the advantage didn’t last long. Nine minutes later, Chelsea equalised through an excellently worked corner, finished by João Pedro.

From that point on, the Blues looked in control. Although West Ham briefly thought they had regained the lead only for their goal to be ruled out for offside Chelsea struck again in the 23rd minute through Pedro Neto.

The highlight of the first half came from teenager Estêvão Willian, who replaced the injured Palmer. The young Brazilian picked up the ball in midfield, danced past the West Ham defence, and laid it off for Enzo Fernández to make it 3-1 at half-time.

The second half began terribly for West Ham. Moisés Caicedo pounced on a poorly cleared corner from Mads Hermansen to extend Chelsea’s lead to 4-1. Not long after, the Blues struck again from another set piece, with Trevoh Chalobah reacting quickest to a loose ball and slotting home in the 60th minute.

By then, many West Ham supporters had seen enough, with large sections of the crowd emptying half an hour before the final whistle.

The result leaves West Ham in a precarious position. With Potter’s job already under scrutiny, he will no doubt be pushing for reinforcements to address the evident lack of quality in his squad.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, on the other hand, will be thrilled with his side’s performance.

After their lacklustre attacking display against Crystal Palace in the opener, hitting five goals was an emphatic response.

New signing João Pedro’s goal and two assists will also give Chelsea fans plenty of optimism as they look ahead to the coming fixtures.

Lineups:

West Ham – Hermansen; Wan-Bissaka, Todibo (Potts, 46’), Kilman, Aguerd, Diouf; Soucek (Walker-Peters, 68’), Ward-Prowse, Paquetá; Fullkrug (Wilson, 46’), Bowen

Chelsea – Sánchez; Gusto (James, 68’), Tosin, Chalobah (Fofana, 68’), Cucurella (Hato, 68’); Caicedo, Fernández; Estêvão Willian (Gittens, 76’), João Pedro, Neto; Delap (Santos, 61’)