West Ham United ended a disappointing week with a 5-2 Barclays U18 Premier League defeat by Chelsea at Little Heath.
The young Hammers, who were knocked out of the FA Youth Cup at Southampton in midweek, were on the back foot for the majority of their meeting with the Blues.
West Ham goalkeeper Sam Howes saved an early penalty from Isaac Christie-Davies, but it was not long before Ike Ugbo put Chelsea in front in a goalmouth scramble following a corner.
Grady Diangana saw a shot deflected narrowly wide as West Ham looked to hit back immediately, only for the Hammers to concede a second penalty just before the half-hour mark, which was despatched by Kyle Scott.
Steve Potts' side did pull a goal back just before half-time, when Joe Powell's free-kick was spilled by Bradley Collins and Fatai Adebayo was on hand to poke the loose ball into the net.
Into the second half and Howes denied Chelsea a third with a fantastic save from Kasey Palmer, but the stopper was beaten again moments later when Faiq Bolkiah converted Fikayo Tomori's cross.
Palmer added a fourth from long range before Ugbo made it 5-1 after Howes had saved Palmer's initial shot.
There was still time for Howes to deny Bolkiah a sixth before substitute Decarrey Sheriff made the final scoreline a little more respectable by finishing low into the corner in the closing stages.
West Ham's youngsters now take a break from competitive action over the festive season before returning to the pitch against Reading on Saturday 10 January.