Joao Pedro dazzles, Cole Palmer worried: Three winners and three losers from Chelsea’s win vs West Ham
Chelsea cruised to their first Premier League victory of the season, but Enzo Maresca may still have some selection dilemmas ahead of the Blues’ next match.
Cole Palmer dropped out of the side in the warm-up due to injury, and Chelsea got off to bad start when Lucas Paqueta opened the scoring after just six minutes.
Chelsea though were not behind for long when Joao Pedro equalised just nine minutes later before further goals from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez gave the Blues a 3-1 advantage at the break.
Moises Caicedo and Trevoh Chalobah netted in quick succession in the second has Chelsea ran out comfortable 5-1 winners.
Winners: Joao Pedro continues to shines
Estevao
Came into the side at the last minute for the injured Cole Palmer, and showed his quality in the build-up to the third Chelsea goal.
It was not the perfect start for the 18-year-old who gave away the ball in the build-up to the West Ham opener.
The forward though didn’t let that get to him, and kept being positive and driving at the Hammers defence and should’ve got on the scoresheet in the second half.
Joao Pedro
Pedro grabbed his first Premier League goal for Chelsea, with a close-range header from a corner.
The 23-year-old leapt well to beat the West Ham players to the ball and then his cross found Pedro Neto to put Chelsea ahead mid-way through the first half.
After impressing in the Club World Cup and in pre-season, this was another lively performance from Pedro was continues to cement themself as Chelsea’s number one striker.
Trevoh Chalobah
With Wesley Fofana back in the squad, and new signing Jorrel Hato waiting on the bench for his opportunity, Chalobah ensured he will still be in Maresca’s starting line-up next week.
Chalobah was solid at the back and a star performer as he also contributed to Neto’s goal when he won the ball back outside the penalty area.
The defender then got on the scoresheet himself with a close-range finish from a corner.
Losers: Cole Palmer injury causes concern
Cole Palmer
Palmer dropped out of the the warm-up and did not start as a precaution and it remains to be seen how serious his injury becomes.
Palmer is influential to the Chelsea team and any spell on the sidelines for the midfielder will be a blow to Enzo Maresca.
| Appearances | 98 |
| Goals | 43 |
| Assists | 29 |
The 23-year-old could only watch on from the bench as Chelsea netted five past a woeful West Ham team, a match Palmer would have enjoyed playing in.
Robert Sanchez
There were question marks over whether the goalkeeper should have done better as he failed to keep out Paqueta’s strike.
Sanchez seemed to use the wrong hand to try and keep Paqueta’s shot out, and the moment will again cause doubt among some as to whether the Spaniard should be the club’s number one.
Chelsea have been linked with goalkeeper’s Emi Martinez from Aston Villa, and that moment could’ve proved costly against a higher calibre of opposition.
Liam Delap
Whilst Chelsea scored five and his strike partner Pedro got off the mark for the new season, Liam Delap looked anonymous at the London Stadium.
Delap was outshined by his team mates, and the summer arrival is now under pressure to get off the mark.
Maresca decided to play both Delap and Pedro together in the same side, but whilst Pedro was in the game and registered an assist, his strike partner was the first player pulled off on the hour mark.