A quick-fire brace from Tammy Abraham inspired Chelsea to victory against an in-form West Ham.
The England striker sealed a 3-0 win after Thiago Silva’s powerful header saw the home side take the lead after just 10 minutes.
The win against his former club was a managerial first for Chelsea manager Frank Lampard, after tasting defeat by both Manuel Pelligrini and David Moyes in this fixture last season.
The visitors entered the game off the back of a 2-1 victory away to Leeds United, while Chelsea were beaten by the same scoreline at Wolves.
West Ham had an early goal ruled out for offside when Declan Rice slotted home from an impressively tight angle, after rounding Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy from Aaron Cresswell’s quick free-kick.
Lampard was forced into an early change with left back Emerson Palmieri replacing an injured Ben Chillwell, who found himself on the wrong end of a coming together with Hammers’ winger Jarrod Bowen.
Seconds after the change Chelsea took the lead from a corner when Silva’s bullet header left Lukasz Fabianksi routed to the spot.
While the delivery was pin-point and the finish sublime, many questions will be raised over the away side’s zonal marking, which left the Brazilian centre back unchallenged.
Just after the 40-minute mark Timo Werner squandered a golden opportunity to double the Blues’ lead after the ball was squared to him just yards from goal following a swift counter-attack.
With no changes at half-time the visitors began to threaten going forward, however Moyes’ men failed to create any clear-cut chances.
After failing to capitalise on their dominant spell of possession, West Ham were punished when a scuffed shot from Werner was tapped home by the perfectly placed Abraham.
Just two minutes later the England international found himself at the double after Christian Pulisic’s header rebounded off Fabianski and right into his path to smash home.
The Blues had the opportunity for a fourth goal but Werner’s late strike crashed off the post after N’Golo Kante slipped him through with a perfectly-weighted pass.
West Ham fans will feel hard done by after two quick goals against the run of play, but for Lampard’s side it was a perfect performance as they move up to fifth in the table following three goals, a clean sheet and most importantly: three points.
By Fraser Day
