Chelsea 5-0 West Ham United
Premier League, Stamford Bridge, Sunday 5 May 2024, 2pm BST
West Ham United fell to a 5-0 Premier League defeat at Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.
First-half goals from English trio Cole Palmer, Conor Gallagher and Noni Madueke arrived with less than 40 minutes on the clock.
Nicolas Jackson then added a brace in the second half, as West Ham’s hopes of a fourth straight season in Europe, despite Jarrod Bowen hitting the bar on three separate occasions, ended abruptly at Stamford Bridge.
After a positive start, with Tomáš Souček denied by a good bit of work from Serbia international Đorđe Petrović on five minutes, West Ham’s final London derby of 2023/24 quickly followed a similar pattern to their last away trip in the capital - a 2-5 reverse at Crystal Palace.
Jackson fired an early warning sign after a well-worked free-kick by the Blues, but once Palmer grabbed the opener on 15 minutes - the in-form No20 rifled the ball past Alphonse Areola after Kurt Zouma’s half clearance fell at his feet - Chelsea took complete control.
Bowen’s glanced header off the bar was as good as it got in response in the first half, before Gallagher thrashed Chelsea’s second into the bottom corner.
Allowed to play through the middle far too easily, Madueke found space in the penalty area. His poked pass deflected off Zouma to Chelsea skipper Gallagher, who made no mistake from 12 yards.
A Chelsea third followed just five minutes later when West Ham’s defence was caught napping as a relatively simple corner was bundled in by Madueke after Thiago Silva was left free at the back post to head a knockdown into his path.
After the bar denied Chelsea a fourth, and Gallagher his second, Bowen led the West Ham response and hit the woodwork - for the second time - with a rasping left-foot volley in the final action before the break.
There was little change after the break, as within just three second-half minutes Chelsea had a fourth.
Trevoh Chalobah sent a long pass forward from inside his half which each West Ham defender left to another. Their absence saw Madueke leave Jackson with a tap-in unopposed.
What followed was West Ham’s best period of the game, as Emerson flashed an effort over the bar from six yards out, and James Ward-Prowse sent Petrović sprawling towards his top corner.
But the latter’s effort was as close as West Ham mustered to a response on a dismal day out in west London that would have got worse but for Areola, who despite three stops in quick succession, could not spare the Irons the indecency of shipping a fifth in consecutive away games.
Aided by a VAR check, after originally being flagged offside, Jackson ran past Zouma and met Moisés Caicedo’s through-ball with a neat finish past Areola ten minutes from time.
Jackson’s second of the match arrived just minutes after Bowen rattled the bar for the third time.
His frustrations as the ball bounced off the woodwork once more summed up a dismal trip across the capital.
Chelsea: Petrovic, Chalobah, Silva, Badiashile, Cucurella, Gallagher ©, Caicedo, Madueke (Casadei 76), Mudryk (Nkunku 76), Palmer (Gilchrist 89), Jackson
Subs not used: Bettinelli (GK), Gusto, Disasi, Colwill, Sterling, Deivid
Goals: Palmer 15, Gallagher 30, Madueke 35, Jackson 48, 80
Booked: Cucurella
West Ham United: Areola, Coufal, Zouma ©, Ogbonna, Emerson, Souček, Álvarez (Ward-Prowse 46) Paquetá (Cresswell 77), Kudus, Antonio (Ings 70), Bowen
Subs not used: Fabiański (GK), Johnson, Cornet, Earthy, Casey, Mubama
Booked: Ogbonna, Emerson, Paquetá
Referee: Andy Madley
Attendance: 39,295
