Chelsea boost European hopes by thrashing sorry West Ham

Mauricio Pochettino’s side have now scored 22 times in their last six Premier League games at Stamford Bridge, and here there was a fluency to their attacking play that could well have yielded substantially more than the five they put past the hapless visitors.

Chelsea were three up at the break. First, Cole Palmer netted the 21st league goal of his debut season in west London, steering a loose ball into the corner, then Conor Gallagher volleyed home.

Noni Madueke headed the third near the end of an excellent first half, before Nicolas Jackson took his tally for the season to 13 in the league with a brace after the interval.

Chelsea climbed to seventh after recording back-to-back league wins for the first time since January, and there is increasingly the feeling that, after a difficult start, the players are responding to their head coach’s methods.

For David Moyes’ Hammers, this was a calamitous display. Eliminated from Europe and now all but out of the race to qualify again next year, it was hard to avoid a sense of a promising season petering out as the Chelsea goals flew past Alphonse Areola and their players came to look more and more dejected.

Their punishment began after 15 minutes. Madueke crossed from the right towards Jackson, the ball deflected back out off Kurt Zouma and ran loose towards Palmer, who opened up his left foot and guided a finish into the corner.

The second goal arrived after half an hour. Palmer cut a clever pass down the middle to the feet of Madueke, who attempted to flick it up and over Zouma. The West Ham defender succeeded only in looping the ball upwards to where Gallagher was waiting, and the captain crashed the ball into the corner with a coolly taken volley.

Chelsea by now were dominant. Madueke almost made it three when he danced in off the right beyond three defenders and hit a shot that deflected wide.

He would not have long to wait for his goal, though, as from the resulting corner Thiago Silva leapt to send a firm header back across the box, and Madueke reacted quickly to steer his header into the corner.

Mykhailo Mudryk hit the bar from barely a yard out as West Ham threatened to implode before the break. Unable to get out of their own half, they stood off Chelsea and watched as time and again the ball was passed through them.

Jarrod Bowen struck the crossbar after Djordje Petrovic flapped at Vladimir Coufal’s cross, the visitors finally rallying and asking questions of Chelsea. Nevertheless, boos could be heard from the away section as the whistle sounded for half-time.

West Ham’s respite lasted barely longer than the interval, and within two minutes of the restart they conceded again. Trevoh Chalobah lumped a ball up from the back and the visitors’ defence seemed to dissolve. Into the space glided Madueke, unselfishly squaring it for Jackson to make it four.

The visitors showed a flicker of willing to improve their situation. Emerson blazed over from a difficult angle after going clean through, before James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick drew an excellent save from Petrovic.

A lengthy VAR check for offside then confirmed a second for Jackson and a fifth for Chelsea, the finish tucked inside Areola’s near post to round off West Ham’s humiliation.