Nicolas Jackson scored two and set up another for Cole Palmer as Chelsea handed out a 3-0 derby battering to woeful West Ham United on Saturday.
Chelsea opened the scoring after just four minutes when a quickly-taken free-kick saw West Ham's defence switch off. Jadon Sancho supplied a ball to Jackson who was given the freedom of the London Stadium to race through and slot the ball through Alphonse Areola's legs.
It was the fifth time this season that the Hammers had conceded in the first five minutes of a Premier League game in 2024.
And the situation quickly worsened for Julen Lopetegui's side when a sweeping Chelsea move ended with Moises Caicedo threading a ball through to Jackson before the Senegalese striker calmly finished his second with less than 20 minutes gone.
“[My confidence is] growing higher with my teammates, they help me a lot and they have confidence in me,” Jackson said to TNT Sports after the game.
“We keep going. This one is finished and next week we go on to another one. The most important thing is for the team to win.
“I am happy to play always. To fight for the team and the team to win is the most important thing.”
His teammate Palmer added: "Everybody knows he [Nicolas] is a top player – he needs to keep going. The Chelsea fans and players rate him highly – we know what he is capable of.
"There will always be noise, we try to block it out and listen to the manager. We have a good manager and it can only help us to get better."
There was double home frustration around the half-hour mark. First, when Crysencio Summerville went down inside the Chelsea box after having his arm held by Wesley Fofana, only for referee Samuel Barrott and VAR official Stuart Attwell to rule no penalty.
Minutes later, Mohammed Kudus had the ball in the back of the net only to have the goal ruled out for offside.
A clearly agitated Lopetegui then replaced Argentine midfielder Guido Rodriguez with Tomas Soucek six minutes before half-time in a bid to to get some sort of foothold in the game.
But any hopes West Ham had of launching a comeback ended just after half-time. A sweeping Chelsea counter-attack saw Jackson slot Palmer in on goal and the England international finished superbly via Areola's near post.
West Ham heads were now gone as Edson Alvarez picked up a booking for chopping down Palmer from behind as a stunned home crowd looked on in quiet disbelief.
Jarrod Bowen at least tested Robert Sanchez in the Chelsea goal after 51 minutes but there were jeers moments later from West Ham fans when Summerville, one of the team's few bright spots, was hooked by Lopetegui as the mood darkened again around the ground.
West Ham Hame atl east avoided conceding again after Chelsea substitute Joao Felix twice shot wide while Noni Madueke – who scored a hat-trick against Wolves last month – wasted a three-on-one opportunity when his shot was saved by Areola when teammates were crying out for a pass.
The final whistle was met by boos as West Ham were left to lick the wounds of losing each of their opening three home games of a league campaign for the first time.
It means all Lopetegui has to show for a £120 million outlay on nine summer signings since replacing David Moyes are those London Stadium defeats, a scrappy win at Crystal Palace and a last-gasp draw with Fulham.
Chelsea moved up to second in the table on 10 points with seven other Saturday matches still to play while West Ham are 14th.
"We were never in the game which is an awful thing to say," admitted Bowen. "The goals that they scored were easy on our part – two gifts.
"You have to be switched on in every moment. On the pitch it felt quite easy to play through [us], a disappointing day all-round.
"Of course, as a player and captain you have to lead and rally everyone together. We gave them too much respect in the end.
"Disappointing day, we accept the defeat. The game is done and we put it to bed and see what we can improve on. Games are coming thick and fast to put it right.
"We still have a lot of games to go and that is a positive for us."
