Potter pressure grows as Chelsea destroy West Ham
HAMMERED: Merciless Chelsea hit five past West Ham. Pic: HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images
The Graham Potter derby ended in disaster for the man himself as the club he briefly managed humiliated his current employers, who might as well just sack him now and get it over and done with.
It would be a merciful release as no manager should have to watch his own players gift the type of guff goals that Joao Pedro, Pedro Neto, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Trevoh Chalobah ended up celebrating.
All were close-range and all were preventable - and added to an embarrassing opening weekend loss at newly-promoted Sunderland, a dereliction of duty in itself.
Potter inherited an inert squad last season and the Hammers hierarchy have hardly helped him with any quality buys over the summer. Yet it is his name on the manager's door and this was an utter shambles.
Cole Palmer took no part in it, which must have been a disappointment to England manager Thomas Tuchel in the stands.
Palmer pulled up in the warm-up, which handed an unexpected start for Estevao, an 18-year-old Brazilian of no use to Tuchel.
No use is a phrase many Hammers fans have now reserved for Potter and his stodgy squad. It might have been a different story as a marginal offside ruled out a goal that would have put West Ham 2-1 ahead but then again maybe not.
Potter was sacked in April 2023 when Chelsea were languishing in 11th place. How Hammers fans would love to be in that position right now.
A 3-0 loss at newly-promoted Sunderland was a dismal beginning to Potter's first full season at the Hammers helm but home hopes were briefly high when Lucas Paqueta netted a sixth-minute stunner.
The man who was finally cleared of match-fixing allegations in the close-season unleashed a speculative effort from distance after Estevao had given the ball away. There was swerve as well as verve from the Brazilian but Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez looked foolish in missing it, arguably going with the wrong hand.
The lead lasted until the quarter-hour mark when West Ham, poor in the air against Sunderland, were caught out from Neto's corner. Marc Cucurella headed it on at the near post and Pedro headed it over the line.
Chelsea were fortunate a marginal offside ruled out Niclas Fullkrug's quick reply at the other end, with Sanchez again found wanting when the shot came at him. The boot of Jean-Clair Todibo, who had pulled the ball back for the German, had been slightly too far forward.
It proved costly as West Ham's dismal defending allowed Chelsea to take a 23rd minute lead. Paqueta was guilty of surrendering possession just outside his own box and Aaron Wan-Bissaka failed to track Neto when Pedro crossed from the right.
Goal number three arrived shortly after the half-hour mark and this time Estevao impressed with a rapid bust into the box on the right. His square ball across the six-yard box was perfect for Fernandez to convert before Wan-Bissaka could intervene.
Three close-range goals conceded in the space of just 18 minutes; some Hammers fans were heading for the exit with half-time still 10 minutes away. "Are you Tottenham in disguise?" queried the away following. Inevitably there were home boos at the break.
Fullkrug and Todibo were hooked for the second period, with Callum Wilson and Freddie Potts coming on but West Ham were relieved when Fernandez, teed up by Neto, blasted a decent chance for a fourth over soon after.
West Ham fans seemed resigned to their grisly fate and the players' poor defending made that an inevitability before an hour was played.
New goalkeeper Mads Hermansen, who had been poor on his debut, flapped at a Neto corner, allowing Caicedo to poke the fourth high into the net.
Worse was to come as the Hammers again failed to deal with a corner into the six-yard box, with Chalobah lashing home this time before the game was an hour old and Chelsea rested on their laurels after that.
: Hermansen 5; Todibo 5 (Potts 46, 5), Kilman 5, Aguerd 5; Wan-Bissaka 5, Ward-Prowse 5, Soucek 5 (Walker-Peters 69, 4), Diouf 5; Paqueta 6; Bowen 5, Fullkrug 5 (Wilson 46, 5).
Sanchez 6; Gusto 7 (James 69, 4), Adarabioyo 7, Chalobah 7 (Fofan 69, 5), Cucurella 7 (Hato 69, 4); Caicedo 7, Fernandez 7; Neto 8, Estevao 7 (Gittens 77), Pedro 7; Delap 5 (Santos 62, 5)Â
: Michael Oliver 6
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
