West Ham 0-3 Chelsea
by Paul Donovan
at the London Stadium

WEST HAM crashed to their third successive home defeat at the London Stadium on Saturday, after being thoroughly outplayed by a slick Chelsea side.

Chelsea were ahead inside three minutes, with Nicolas Jackson allowed to run from just inside the West Ham half, unchallenged, to fire home, under the advancing Alphonse Areola.

Many West Ham fans were left scratching their heads over what had happened to right back, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who was nowhere to be seen.

Jackson then set up Cole Palmer but his shot went just wide of the post.

Chelsea, though, quickly doubled their lead, after some nice possession play, Moises Caicedo's perfect through ball found Jackson who easily beat Areola.

West Ham rallied, with the lively Crysencio Summerville pulled back by Wesley Fofana but the penalty claim was denied.

Then, a through ball from Lucas Paqueta was clinically finished by Mohammed Kudus but the goal was ruled out for offside.

Any hope of a West Ham revival, though, was quashed one minute into the second half, when Palmer slammed home the third following a break out, led by Jackson.

Chelsea would have further increased their lead but for two excellent saves from Areola. The first to deny Noni Madueke, when he broke clear. Then, a point blank header from Christopher Nkunku.

There was also time for substitute Joao Felix to put two efforts just wide 

West Ham created little, with a Carlos Soler shot finishing in the hands of Robert Sanchez.

Boos greeted the second half substitution of Summerville, who had been one of West Ham's better players.

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca was pleased with his sides performance, particularly the work done off the ball by goalscorers Jackson and Palmer. "Results and points are always important but so is how we progress as a team," said Maresca.

Lack of consistency seemed to be the rationale for the West Ham performance, according to West Ham manager, Julen Lopetegui.

The manager thought his team gave away soft goals. “We had chances to score but it is about being more consistent," said Lopetegui. “We were not consistent.”

On the subject of the crowd booing, he sympathised. “The crowd have a right to complain, the only solution is to do better,” said Lopetegui.

These are worrying times for West Ham, who are at the wrong end of the table. At present, it looks like a season of struggle ahead, rather than striving for a top six finish.

Lopetegui clearly does not know what his best team is and continues to experiment, not an ideal position to be in in late September. Already, those David Moyes years are beginning to look even better in retrospect.