Nicolas Jackson scored twice to push Chelsea to a third straight away win with a 3-0 victory against London rivals West Ham United on Saturday.
The victory indicated that Chelsea’s new coach Enzo Maresca is getting his huge squad to form.
Jackson capitalised on poor defending of West Ham to find the net in the fourth minute when he sprinted down the wing, cutting inside unchallenged and beat Alphonse Areola with a low shot.
Fourteen minutes later, the Senegal striker was left in the space by West Ham’s defenders to receive a pass from Moisés Caicedo and doubled Chelsea’s lead.
West Ham were 3-0 down little more than a minute into the second half when Jackson, on the break, teed up Cole Palmer before the England striker fired home from the edge of the box.
Chelsea, who won 1-0 at Bournemouth last Saturday and 6-2 at Wolverhampton Wanderers in August, moved into second place in the Premier League table before the rest of the weekend’s fixtures.
Maresca, the fourth permanent coach to work for Chelsea’s American owners since they bought the club two years ago, has faced questions over his ability to create a coherent team following a latest spate of signings.
ESPN reports that he gave first starts to Jadon Sancho in attack and Tosin Adarabioyo in defence, playing Wesley Fofana in the unusual position of right back due to injuries to Reece James and Malo Gusto.
But the reshuffling did not knock Chelsea off their stride as they took full advantage of West Ham’s own adjustment under new coach Julen Lopetegui.
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