Chelsea shrugged and Cole Palmer was absent, bringing their season to grow and run while only two games deepened the darkness of West Ham after a 5-1 victory at London Stadium.
Goals from João Pedro, Pedro Neto, Enzo Fernández, Moisés Caicedo and Trevoh Chalobah – Lucas Paquetá gave the host a shocking lead – he has won the Blues since December 2021 and has lifted them to the top.
It may be only a few hours – apparently, the other 18 teams have only played one game – but that is still important, as Chelsea's first time was Todd Boehly taking over and starting a spending rate of over £1 billion.
Meanwhile, as New World Club champions with Crystal Palace’s opening day shook the dust with ignoring the draw, West Ham slid to the bottom of the table after a bad show, a way that left the manager fired.
Graham Potter lost to him 3-0 last weekend in Sunderland and now has a worse record in 20 games than Julen Lopetegui, the man he replaced in January.
Trevoh Chalobah celebrates after taking Chelsea’s fifth goal against West Ham.
However, when Palmer was injured in the warm-up, Porter may feel his luck was about to change his old club, and 18-year-old Brazilian Estêvão replaced him.
Then, from Nowhere, Paquetá brought West Ham a sixth-minute lead, launching a spectacular turn on the blues goalkeeper Robert Sánchez, with a sloping shot.
But this is a situation without Palmer, no problem with the Hammer, Chelsea is at the level nine minutes later.
The first of five soft goals – all from the cross – was Marc Cucurella flashing in the corner of Neto, with Pedro nodding in his first Premier League goal in his new front.
West Ham thought they were back in front later when Niclas Füllkrug buried a loose ball, but the VAR check excluded it from offside.
Instead, in the 23rd minute, Chelsea took the lead after Paquetá was bullied by Chalobah, who knocked the ball and Neto was completely unmarked and spinned with a volley in the distant post.
Chelsea's crazy third arrived in the first half, thanks to Estêvão's dazzling first aid, who did not challenge the area and tucked it into an empty net in Fernández.
They entered the 49th minute of the second half after the new Hammer goalkeeper crazy Hermans slapped in another corner and Caideo drilled the ball and went home.
Hermanson was once again culprit as the fifth man flew over his head from another corner and even fans were running for the humiliating night of West Ham.