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Chelsea smashed West Ham United 5-0 in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, April 5. This helped them climb to seventh in the table - their highest position this season.
Chelsea made a great start to the game and played with a high tempo, which proved to be too much for West Ham United from the get-go. This allowed the Blues acres of space in the final third as they created several goalscoring chances in the first half. Their first goal came via Cole Palmer as Nicolas Jackson provided an assist with a sweet pass after 15 minutes.
Skipper Conor Gallagher doubled Chelsea's advantage at the 30-minute mark with a smart finish as the hosts were cruising. Just six minutes later, Thiago Silva turned surprise provider as he assisted Noni Madueke for the Blues' third goal. West Ham, on the other hand, could not stitch together anything substantial with just 33% of the ball. They attempted three shots in the first period but none of them were on target.
Chelsea led West Ham 1-0 at the interval.
Chelsea made a great start to the second half and picked up where they left off in the first. Madueke grabbed an assist as he showed great generosity by passing up a chance to score and squaring the ball for Jackson to tap into an open net to make it 4-0 in the 48th minute. West Ham showed decent spirit despite conceding as the two teams nearly shared the ball equally.
Both Mauricio Pochettino and David Moyes made periodic changes as they looked to shuffle their packs. However, Chelsea struck in the 80th minute to make it five as Jackson grabbed his second of the night. Moises Caicedo got in on the action as he provided an assist for the goal. It was confirmed following a VAR check as Kurt Zouma played Jackson narrowly onside.
Neither side was able to trouble the scorekeeper further as the hosts recorded a resounding 5-0 win. On that note, let's take a look at the five hits and flops from the game.
#5. Hit - Noni Madueke (Chelsea)
Madueke had a great game on the right flank as he grabbed a goal and an assist. He scored to make it 3-0 to Chelsea in the 36th minute following an assist from Silva. Madueke then turned provider for his team's fourth goal early in the second period.
He passed the ball with an incredible 93% accuracy, including a whopping six key passes as he was a crucial component of Chelsea's attack. He also played two crosses. Madueke also attempted seven shots, with four of those on target as he forced the issue for the hosts. He also won four duels.
Madueke's direct running also caused West Ham's defenders several issues as he dribbles past players on two occasions.
#4. Flop - Edson Alvarez (West Ham)
Alvarez had a nightmare first half in which he was simply unable to stop Chelsea's advances into West Ham territory. He had 25 touches of the ball and lost possession five times. He won just one of his four duels as the hosts' forwards ran rings around him.
Alvarez was dribbled past on three separate occasions by the hosts' players as he looked a couple of yards off the game pace. In lieu of his poor display, David Moyes replaced him with James Ward-Prowse for the second half.
#3. Hit - Thiago Silva (Chelsea)
The veteran defender showed his class at the back with an assured performance in defence. He played for 82 minutes and barely let anything past him at the back as he won all three of his duels. Silva also made a game-high nine clearances, three tackles and also blocked one shot with his body.
He completed 74 passes with an incredible 99% accuracy, including an assist for Madueke's goal in the first half. He played one other key pass to advance the ball as the Blues were rampant in their attacking endeavours. He was replaced by Axel Disasi with little under 10 minutes left in the game.
#2. Flop - Mykhaylo Mudryk (Chelsea)
Mudryk had a rather dull outing on the left flank despite his team dominating the game for the majority of the time. Interestingly, he was the only one among Chelsea's attacking six to not have a single goal contribution despite having so much of the ball. Most of this boiled down to the Ukrainian picking up wide positions rather than drifting central.
This prevented him from getting closer to the goal and attempt shots, instead being forced to pick a pass to a teammate in a better position. He was on the pitch for 76 minutes and managed just two shots, both were tame efforts on target. He also played just one cross despite having a lot of space on the left wing.
#1. Hit - Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea)
Jackson had a great game up front for the Blues as he grabbed an assist for Palmer's goal in the 15th minute. He then got on the scoresheet with the first key action of the second half as the hosts showed their relentlessness in the final third with a rampant display. His movement and timing of the runs did not allow West Ham's defence to settle at any moment.
He grabbed his second goal of the night in the 80th minute following a perfectly-timed run to get on the end of Caicedo's pass. Jackson then finished with ease to make it 5-0. He attempted a total of seven shots, with four on target, and completed three dribbles past players. He also played four key passes and won seven duels.
