Chelsea overcame West Ham United 3-0 on Saturday afternoon courtesy of a Nicolas Jackson double and a Cole Palmer strike.
Jackson put Chelsea into the lead on four minutes after breaking down the left flank, cutting into the box and firing a shot through Alphonse Areola in the West Ham net. He then made it 2-0 with just 18 minutes on the clock.
Chelsea extended their lead shortly after the half-time break. Jackson burst through again before teeing up Palmer, who fired in a left-footed strike to put Enzo Maresca’s side three goals ahead.
Here, The Athletic’s Simon Johnson analyses the Chelsea performance and runs through the key talking points from this game.
Would the co-owners have enjoyed Chelsea’s display?
It is hard to recall the last time Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali have been pictured sitting next to each other at a Chelsea match.
In normal circumstances, seeing which member of the hierarchy is in attendance for a given game does not matter to the fans of any club. They rightly only care about the people representing their team out on the pitch.
But the timing of Boehly and Eghbali’s London Stadium reunion comes just a few weeks after the extent of the discord between them came to light. In fairness, the messaging from the club has been that it would be ‘business as usual’ but that is very easy to say, and quite hard to do, when each party is looking to buy the other out to take control.
Co-owners Boehly, left, and Eghbali at the game on Saturday (Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images)
On the few occasions the TV cameras panned to the duo it did not look like the warmest of marriages, with not a word appearing to be exchanged. But obviously, it was not as if their every exchange was being filmed either.
Regardless of any personal angst, seeing their expensively assembled team overcome one of their London rivals as comfortably as this will have lightened the mood.
Only time will tell how the ownership situation will be resolved, but at least things appear to be heading in the right direction on the pitch. This is the highest now second-placed Chelsea have been in the Premier League table since they took over in summer 2022.
Did Jackson silence the doubters?
It seems like ever since Jackson was signed from Villarreal in Spain before the start of last season, he has had questions to answer. Former footballers covering games on TV seem to be regularly debating whether the Senegal international is good enough to lead the line for a club of Chelsea’s stature.
That pressure has intensified in recent weeks with ex-Chelsea midfielder Mikel John Obi being vocal about Jackson’s ability in front of goal while trying to help the club secure the signing of striker Victor Osimhen, a fellow Nigerian, from Napoli.
Chelsea failed in that pursuit, with Osimhen joining Galatasaray of Turkey on loan, although it is an option they could pursue again in January. But Jackson still has the pressure of Christopher Nkunku, a talented finisher, to worry about from within the current squad.
Nkunku replaced the rather wasteful Jackson late on against Bournemouth last week and scored the game’s only goal with a smart shot into the corner.
Jackson scores Chelsea’s opening goal (Henry Browne/Getty Images)
It led to more debate over whether Nkunku should start today against West Ham, yet head coach Enzo Maresca stuck by the 23-year-old — and my how he was rewarded.
Jackson quickly silenced the home crowd with two goals in the first 18 minutes. What made those strikes more noteworthy is he had a lot of time to think about what to do in both cases, a situation he has not always revelled in. But he showed great composure on each occasion to beat goalkeeper Areola.
His two goals here take his tally to four in five Premier League games this season — hardly evidence that he should be dropped from the first XI any time soon.
Within two minutes of the restart after half-time, Jackson showed his cool once again as he led a fine counter from a West Ham attack and timed the pass to Palmer perfectly for the latter to make it 3-0. It was another example of getting the decision-making right when on another day he might have sought personal glory and shot wildly in a bid to get the hat-trick.
When he was replaced by Nkunku this time around, on 64 minutes, he got a standing ovation from the away end with chants of ‘Nico’.
It was one of the warmest receptions he has had from the Chelsea crowd.
Is Caicedo finally living up to his price tag?
It has not taken Caicedo long to establish himself as one of the players Maresca has come to trust the most. Given he cost Chelsea a club record £115million (once add-ons are triggered) from Brighton last year, perhaps it is to be expected.
But Maresca has given Caicedo the most minutes of any Chelsea player this season so far, which is some compliment given how he likes to use substitutions to share the workload around.
Caicedo has started all five Premier Leagues games under Maresca, plus 84 minutes of the first leg of their Conference League Qualifier against Servette. When the second leg was threatening to get out of control, the Ecuador international was among the first substitutes to come off the bench to help secure the aggregate victory.
Caicedo impressed for Chelsea (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
He has been getting better with each game under Maresca and his contribution to this rare victory at the London Stadium is perhaps the pick of the bunch. It was not just because Jackson’s second goal came from his fine through ball. Caicedo seemed to be everywhere, winning possession and making interceptions.
According to whoscored.com, he led Chelsea for most tackles (eight) and the most touches (74). He was also second with the most passes behind Levi Colwill and won the most aerial duels (three). Such was West Ham’s frustration with him, Michail Antonio resorted to an ugly challenge, which he was rightly booked for, to stop him.
When Enzo Fernandez was substituted late on, it was fitting that Caicedo was then given the captain’s armband to see out the fixture.
What did Enzo Maresca say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What next for Chelsea?
Tuesday, September 24: Barrow (H), Carabao Cup, 7.45pm BST, 2.45pm ET
Saturday, September 28: Brighton (H), Premier League, 3pm BST, 10am ET
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(Top photo: Henry Browne/Getty Images)
