New Delhi: West Ham welcomed Chelsea to the London Stadium to kick-off the Premier League weekend and it wasn’t a welcome result for the Hammers. Chelsea began the game without a right-back for the second successive week with Wesley Fofana starting in that role while they welcomed Enzo Fernandez back into the starting lineup. West Ham handed a first start to Crysencio Summerville after a stuttering start to the season.
The game began with a bang as Nicolas Jackson, making his 50th Chelsea appearance, marked the occasion with a early goal as he gave his side the lead inside the opening five minutes of the game. Jackson punished a sleeping West Ham defence as he collected the ball from the half line after Jadon Sancho fed the striker. He then ran down the left wing before heading inside the box and slotting the ball between Areola’s legs to make it 1-0.
This goal set the tone for Chelsea’s approach throughout the game as they looked comfortable and confident in their approach. Jackson seemed to be at the forefront of all of Chelsea’s attacks and almost set Cole Palmer up for the second as he played the ball to Palmer at the edge of the box but his shot went narrowly wide. Jackson was once again front and center at the 18th minute as he scored his and his club’s second goal of the night to give them a comfortable lead.
The first manager since September 2016 to win all of his first three #PL away games: Enzo Maresca. 👏#CFC | #WHUCHE pic.twitter.com/prJ4X9gvgx
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 21, 2024
Moises Caicedo played an inch-perfect through ball to send Jackson through on goal and he then produced a smart, outside of his boot finish past Areola to make it 2-0. Enzo Maresca’s men then settled into the half which gave West Ham a chance to gather some momentum. Mo Kudus did make use of it to put the ball in the back of the net but that was ruled out for offside and the scoreline remained the same till half-time.
The Blues began the second half exactly how they began the first half and scored another early goal to make it three for them. This time Jackson was the provider rather than being the scorer as the Senegalese striker ran down the middle before sliding the ball to Palmer on his left and he produced an empathic finish to make it 3-0 just 47 minutes into the match. The half didn’t provide a lot of action after the goal but West Ham never looked like getting back into the game.
Chelsea had a couple of more chances to increase their advantage but couldn’t add to the scoreline. Both Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku, who came on in the second half, went close to increasing the scoreline but Felix slashed his shot wide on two separate occasions while Nkunku’s header from close range was kept out by Areola. Chelsea’s comfortable win over West Ham increases the pressure on manager Julen Lopetegui and lifts themselves up to second in the league table.
Player of the Match
Nicolas Jackson produced a Man of the Match display at the London Stadium. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
There could be no other person for this title tonight other than Nico Jackson. The striker got the game off to a flyer with his early goal and looked like someone full of confidence. Even though he played only just over an hour of the game, he made a lasting impact as all of the goals that were scored involved the striker. He scored the first two and assisted the third, completing an all-round, dominant display for the visitors.
He outperformed his xG majorly as his expected goal count was just 0.77 but he managed to get two. In addition to the goals, Jackson also maintained a decent passing accuracy of more than 80% and had a 100% shot accuracy. He was involved all around, as evidenced by his 30 touches, five of which came inside the opposition’s penalty box. After a lot of fans were calling for Nkunku to start in his place, this performance from Jackson certainly staked his claim for the starting spot.
A first-half brace from Nico Jackson and another goal from Cole Palmer in the second half were enough to wrap up three points for Chelsea as they move to the second position in the table momentarily. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
