Premier LeagueWest Ham United 1-5 Chelsea
Friday, 22nd August 2025
by Chris Wilkerson | Forum match thread
It's hard to escape the spectre of relegation that is already lingering over West Ham United as they crumbled to a 5-1 defeat to Chelsea in their opening home game of the season.
On the back of a 3-0 defeat at the Stadium of Light last weekend, a Friday night game against Chelsea looked the last thing they needed.Those fears may have been brushed aside when Paqueta gave his side an early lead, but Chelsea quickly equalised, and took the lead a few minutes later, never looking back as the home side completely crumbled once again.
There is no fight in this team, and the game that marked 20 Premier League matches under Graham Potter - the same total Lopetegui crawled to - sees the former Chelsea and Brighton manager on less points than his sacked predecessor.
There are just too many easy ways to score against this West Ham team, and weaknesses in every area of the pitch are being exposed so readily and repeatedly in just two games of the season.
Things started as well as they could, even before the game, with Chelsea talisman Cole Palmer injured in the warm-up. And then Paquet?? rifled a screamer into the Chelsea net from 25 yards out after six minutes and the season looked like it was finally starting for The Hammers.
It came from Aguerd's pressure on Estevao, the young Brazilian dropping into his own half to receive a pass from the defence and losing it as he tried to flick it around the corner. The ball fell to Diouf, who quickly passed to Paquet??. He pushed forward, dummying to pass inside and creating space in front of himself. As nobody came out to pressure, the midfielder looked up and saw his chance to shoot.
It flew off his left leg and arrowed across from left to right, swirling a little as it went, enough to keep it away from a less than stellar attempted save by Sanchez and towards the top corner of the Chelsea goal.
That lead lasted less than 10 minutes. After Diouf had made a fantastic recovery header to stop a cross dropping to the feet of Estevao, Chelsea had a corner. Cucurella played Paqueta like a fiddle, going short before running to the front post. Paqueta followed, but let himself be pinned by the full back, who then easily won a flick-on at the front post.
That diverted the ball to the middle of goal, six yards out, where Joao Pedro had stepped away from Wan-Bissaka, winning the ball before Fullkrug's challenge and nodding home from close range to level the scores.
The Hammers thought they had fired in an instant riposte, Todibo underlapping Paqueta on the right wing and firing a ball across the face of the box that Fullkrug guided back across goal and into the far corner, but the French defender had stepped offside as he darted forward.
Instead, with just over 20 minutes played, it was Chelsea who led 2-1.
Fans of last week's defeat to Sunderland will have been pleased to see one of Paqueta's hits make another appearance, the midfielder losing the ball on the edge of his own box needlessly and watching it turn into another goal conceded.
He received the pass from Diouf under minor pressure, but that was suddenly on top of him as the Brazilian allowed a poor touch to let the ball roll loose away from him. He collided with Chalobah, claiming a foul, but the ball had already gone.
It was passed into Joao Pedro's feet on the corner of the box, and the striker was put under no pressure by Aguerd and allowed to clip a ball from the right to the left, rewarded by the work of Pedro Neto, who ran past a static and unaware Aaron Wan-Bissaka to get onto the ball and pass it beyond Hermansen and into the back of the West Ham net.
These typically sloppy West Ham moments had again marred a performance that was otherwise fine. The defensive shape had blocked Chelsea's progress and often kept them in possession in areas of no threat. Unfortunately, even these bare minimum standards cannot be met with consistency, and once the third went in, the game was over.
Aguerd came out of defence to follow Estevao some 35-40 yards from goal. The young Brazilian laid it off, turned to goal and ran away from the Moroccan centre back, who was now hopelessly out of position chasing a player into nowhere.
Estevao carried on his run into the box with the ball at his feet now, receiving a pass and pushing to the byline as Soucek lunged desperately to block. It was a slide in vain, Estevao's ball drilled across the face of goal for Enzo Fernandez, the midfielder running into the space left by the defence shuffling over to cover for Aguerd, with Wan-Bissaka watching him drive into the open space and allowing him to do so. Enzo tapped home from inside the six-yard box and Chelsea had a 3-1 lead.
There were a small smattering of boos as the teams went in at half-time 10 minutes later, and Potter reacted at the break. On came Callum Wilson for the static Fullkrug, as well as Freddie Potts's Premier League debut as he replaced Todibo and Potter's side shuffled to four at the back. It may be a change that many in the support are demanding, but it didn't do any good on this evening.
Chelsea should have had a fourth after five minutes of the restart, playing through the new West Ham midfield with absolute ease and pushing forward with four-against-four at the back. They pushed it wide, then squared back to Enzo Fernandez waltzing into the box, but the midfielder skied a passed effort when he should have scored.
Only four minutes later, they got their goal.
Another simple corner, and this time it was Hermansen, not content to be letting his teammates hog all the mistakes. He came for the cross, flapped it down with two hands barely a yard in front of himself, and could only watch as Caicedo poked the ball into a now empty net, clipping the underside of the crossbar to make it 4-1 to Chelsea.
They made it five before the hour-mark, waiting another four minutes to expose West Ham on a corner for the third time. And this is where some defence of Hermansen is earned. Not because he had done anything good, but just noting that he may well have felt forced to come and do anything to relieve the pitiful defending on offer.
Not a single defender seemed able to command the area, not a single West Ham player able to find a powerful header to clear simple crosses into the box. As they conceded their eighth goal of the season before their second game had even passed 60 minutes, five of those have come via crosses from out wide.
It was the third corner they had conceded from in this game.
Clipped in again, Wan-Bissaka beat Hermansen to the ball, but headed up rather than out. It looped up into the air, dropping down to the head of Joao Pedro, who nodded it back towards goal and towards Chalobah, who wrestled himself free to nudge in from inside the six-yard box.
There were glimpses of chances for West Ham in the remaining half hour as Chelsea sat back and let the game end, and minor improvement as Walker-Peters came on and moved forward well to combine with Bowen. But if anyone was going to score, it would have been Chelsea, the only saving grace that so many of the crowd had left that it wouldn't have ruined their journeys home.
As Kilman meekly headed a corner from Ward-Prowse into the ground and wide of goal, it felt fitting to end on such a damp note of minimal hope. Weak, lacking conviction, incapable of the basics, Graham Potter's West Ham have serious problems and a squad with very few solutions.
What Potter has done in trying to fix this side appears to have come at the cost of Jarrod Bowen, who feels too far removed from the core of the team's play in attempts to coax the best out of the immobile Niclas Fullkrug. Whilst this is no call for pressure on him, no manager will survive long without getting more out of the captain and best player.
In truth, the message is the same as it was six days ago: buy some players. The worry is that the more games we play, the more holes in this side are exposed, and the club does not have the money to fill them. With Sullivan in charge, it clearly lack the nous to do it in any other way.
It is now eight times that West Ham have lost by five or more goals in their nine years at the London Stadium. It had happened once in the last 16 years at Upton Park. It doesn't feel like it'll be the last time this season.
Manager Rating
Graham Potter: 4/10 He's working with at least one hand tied behind his back, but the decisions he's making with what he's got are not good ones. Bowen needs to be freed from Fullkrug, and he's got to find a way to protect his defence and move the ball into attacking areas faster.
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Click to view all West Ham United vs Chelsea match reports Click to view all match reports by Chris Wilkerson Like to share your thoughts on this article? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.Player Ratings
Mads HermansenIronic cheers when he claimed a cross, the clearest sign of his poor performance. Was free of blame until he flapped disastrously at two corners, comfortably to blame for two of the five he conceded.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka
As poor a defensive display as you'll see this season, Wan-Bissaka showed neither the concentration nor the desire required to defend against a better side. Allowed his man to go on all three of the first goals, then headed one out of his keeper's hands on goal five. Last season, he looked a bargain, but this might be the attitude that saw him a spare part at Manchester United
El Hadji Malick Diouf
Hard to gauge his suitability for the league at the moment, but he appears physically up to the task, both in his strength and his conditioning. Needs a game where we use his width in attack.
Jean Clair Todibo
It's unfortunate that our centre backs are better on the ball than our midfielders, but can't defend. Todibo isn't switched on enough to defend in a team this bad.
Max Kilman
Marshalling a very poor defence, he's the least of the problems in that back three, but still a problem. Needs someone to come in and take charge, yet it's left to him as the other two are so weak.
Nayef Aguerd
Aguerd's pace cannot save him when he's forced back, and he hasn't got the brain or the muscle to outplay strikers when pinned back. A defender that two managers didn't want, and who doesn't want to be at the club, is forced into a starting position by the paucity of options and issues in recruitment. Caught on the third goal, and lucky not to be punished for outright pathetic defending in the second half when Estevao chose to dance rather than shoot.
James Ward-Prowse
He was bypassed too easily himself, but he was one of the busier players and showed more fight before everything completely fell apart. But he was snapping into tackles and made good interceptions, kept the ball safely as ever and produced a couple chances from corners. He just isn't a holding midfielder.
Tomas Soucek
Looked lost in Chelsea's movement, and doesn't seem to fit into Potter's midfield, one that doesn't utilise his runs into the box. Bypassed too easily, and didn't get his head on things when it was needed.
Lucas Paqueta
Cracking goal, even if there are questions over Sanchez, but immediately ruined by surrendering possession in a dangerous area again, and punished again. The midfield problems are collective, but his spark is needed as there is little else in this squad. He just needs to be kept away from his own defence.
Jarrod Bowen
He's trying, but it just seems he is getting the ball in areas of higher traffic and unable to escape to make an impact.
Niclas Fullkrug
Doesn't move enough, offers no threat in behind, offers flicks in play but not secure possession. He's not the guy.
Substitutes
Callum Wilson(Fullkrug 45') Doesn't get massively involved himself, but does seem to make himself bits of space and has looked more dangerous than Fullkrug.
Freddie Potts
(Todibo 45') For those clamouring for him to start, this was not a great Premier League debut. Not quite as sharp as he looked in pre-season, and was swallowed up by the game.
Kyle Walker-Peters
(Soucek 70') Offered an attacking threat down the right and moved well with the ball, especially when exchanging little passes. He should start over Wan-Bissaka next time out.
Alphonse Areola
Did not play.
Ollie Scarles
Did not play.
Konstantinos Mavropanos
Did not play.
Guido Rodriguez
Did not play.
Andy Irving
Did not play.
Callum Marshall
Did not play.
Match Facts
West Ham United: Mads Hermansen, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, El Hadji Malick Diouf, Jean Clair Todibo, Max Kilman, Nayef Aguerd, James Ward-Prowse, Tomas Soucek, Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen, Niclas Fullkrug.Goals: Lucas Paqueta 6 .
Booked: None booked. .
Sent Off: None sent off. .
Chelsea: Sanchez, Gusto (James 69), Tosin, Chalobah (Fofana 69), Cucurella (Hato 69), Caicedo, Fernandez (c), Neto, Estevao (Gittens 77), Pedro, Delap (Santos 61).
Subs not used: Jorgensen, Gaga, Acheampong, Essugo.
Goals: Pedro (15), Neto (23), Fernandez (34), Caicedo (54), Chalobah (58).
Booked: Hato.
Sent off: None.
Referee: Michael Oliver.
Attendance: 62,462.
Man of the Match: Kyle Walker-Peters.