Chelsea Defeats West Ham increased their prospects of qualifying for Europe with a 5-0 victory over West Ham United at Stamford Bridge.
Conor Gallagher, Nicolas Jackson, and Noni Madueke all scored alongside Cole Palmer in the hosts’ second London derby of the week. Jackson was at the double.
By halftime, Chelsea had taken command thanks to goals from Madueke, Gallagher, and Palmer in the 15th minute. Jackson’s brace in the second half added the cherry on top.
With the win, Chelsea moves up to seventh place, ahead of Manchester United, who play Crystal Palace on Monday. Meanwhile, struggling West Ham stays in ninth, their prospects of qualifying for Europe dwindling.
Check out: How Premier League clubs get into European competitions
How the game played out
Palmer’s goal, his 21st of the season, gave Chelsea the lead after Jackson’s pass bounced off former Blues defender Kurt Zouma.
Palmer now trails Erling Haaland by four goals in the Castrol Golden Boot competition. It also makes Palmer the third player in Premier League history—after Robbie Fowler and Chris Sutton—to record 30+ goal involvements in a single season while still under 21.
Bowen’s powerful header hit the crossbar, but Chelsea increased their lead at the halfway point when Gallagher volleyed in Zouma’s block.
Six minutes later, Madueke, who was there to nod in following Thiago Silva’s flick-on, made it 3-0.
Before the half, Madueke found Jackson, who tapped home for Chelsea’s fourth goal. Gallagher and Bowen traded attempts against the crossbar.
In the 79th minute, Bowen hit the crossbar for the third time, but Jackson broke free and found the bottom-right corner for his 13th goal of the year, sending Chelsea into frenzy once more.
Chelsea shares the weight, making goals simple to come by.
Chelsea’s offense, particularly at Stamford Bridge, is obviously more cohesive given that they have scored 16 goals in their last four home games.
Yes, their home record is currently In 18 Premier League games, there have been 10 victories, 4 ties, and 4 losses.
Palmer was usually very intelligent. He joined Eden Hazard as the only other Blues player to have scored or assisted against 14 different teams in a Premier League season (15).
Palmer was not the only one under pressure, though, as Madueke and Jackson both finished the day with goals and assists to show that Chelsea was not carrying all the weight on Sunday.
Moyes’ dilemma in west London’
David Moyes has lost twelve of his travels to Chelsea in the Premier League and drawn seven of them. He has never won an away game against Chelsea.
The only time a manager has overseen as many games at a location without emerging victorious is Moyes at Anfield.
Mauricio Pochettino, in fact in his 22 years as a Premier League manager, Moyes has lost at Stamford Bridge to 11 different Blues managers, including stints at Everton, Manchester United, Sunderland, and West Ham.
Important information: Chelsea has won nine of its previous eleven home Premier League games (D1 L1). In fact, since the beginning of December, they have tied Arsenal for the most home victories (9), and they have the most home points (28), also tied with Man City, in the tournament.
Only three players in Premier League history have recorded more over 30 goal interventions in a single season while under contract: Cole Palmer of Chelsea, who turned 22 the day before. 21 (21 goals, 9 assists), behind Chris Sutton (1993–94) and Robbie Fowler (twice, 1994–95 and 1995–96).
Chelsea Defeats West Ham
West Ham possesses conceded 70 goals in the Premier League this season, which is a record for the team (they also shipped 70 in 2010–11), and the most goals a David Moyes-managed team has ever given up in a single top-flight season (they surpassed Sunderland’s 69 in 2016–17).
In the last 16 league games, West Ham has failed to keep a clean sheet and has only won one of their last nine (D4 L4). They have only failed to keep a clean sheet in more than 16 games in a Premier League season twice, the other instance being from October 2002 to February 2003, when they played 18 games.
