West Ham 1-5 Chelsea: Blues THRASH hapless London rivals as five different players find the net to heap pressure on Graham Potter

The world champions are top of the league and they didn't even need Cole Palmer to take them there. You don't need players of his quality to beat a West Ham side as bad as this one.

Fates are never decided after two games but for Chelsea this thumping victory at the London Stadium, with goals shared between Joao Pedro, Pedro Neto, Enzo Fernandez , Moises Caicedo and Trevoh Chalobah, secured a lofty perch their owners are yet to experience since taking over the club.

Chelsea will likely only remain there until this afternoon, and if they are to keep themselves in any sort of title race, they will have to dispatch better teams than this wretched West Ham outfit.

But for the first time since Todd Boehly took over and splashed more than a billion, he can go to sleep having taken one last look at the league table and seen his side top of the table. The last time they ended a day top was in December 2021.

You imagine he will sleep better than Graham Potter , who watched his side collapse once again in embarrassing, shameful fashion. Five goals, all from crosses or corners, to leave them bottom of the table. You don't imagine they will move from their position quite as quickly unless something changes. West Ham need players, and pronto.

Potter has now taken charge of as many league matches as his predecessor Julen Lopetegui was afforded before being relieved of his position. The Spaniard's record read: 20 games, six wins, five draws, nine defeats, 23 points. After last night, Potter's stands at 20 games, five wins, five draws, 10 defeats, 20 points. His nine points from his first 10 home Premier League games is the worst in the club's history.

Trevoh Chalobah heads home Chelsea's fifth goal as they thrashed West Ham on Friday

The manner of the defeat heaps more pressure on West Ham boss Graham Potter

West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen looks dejected after his side's wretched display

The most fight anyone showed was when a child ran on to the pitch and what looked like his father took umbrage with the heavy-handed stewards trying to escort the little tyke back to the stands.

The stadium announcer did his best to drum up some early atmosphere, welcoming the supporters back for not just any first home game of the season but a London derby under the lights. 'What more could you want,' he asked. You wondered whether the spattering of fans who had got to their seats early would give their answers alphabetically or in order of preference.

Quite high up that list, however, would be for your Brazilian playmaker, in his first competitive home game since being cleared of spot-fixing, to put one in the top corner from 25 yards inside the first 10 minutes. There was that little bit of hope.

Paqueta carried the ball forward, glanced up to see if there was anyone to pass to and, when no one took his fancy, let fly with his left foot.

West Ham supporters have experienced scant moments to lift them off their seats in recent times but, boy, did this do the trick.

But this is West Ham, of course, a team that has only won twice on this ground since Potter took charge. It was never going to be straightforward to secure a third, not when his defence is so adept at failing to do, as Potter called it this week, the 'basics'.

Two goals from crosses against Sunderland and another five here. For a team that plays with five across the back, they have a real knack of having none in the vicinity of opposition players when the ball comes into the box.

Lucas Paqueta had given West Ham the lead before Chelsea ran riot at the London Stadium

Enzo Fernandez scored Chelsea's third in the first half after they fell behind early on

West Ham goalkeeper Mads Hermansen's error gifted Moises Caicedo Chelsea's fourth

Chalobah celebrates Chelsea's fifth as they enjoyed a dominant night against their London rivals

Victory for the Blues came after they lost star man Cole Palmer to injury in the warm-up

The first was a simple corner into the box, flicked on at the near post by Marc Cucurella and nodded in unchallenged from yards out by Pedro.

Niclas Fullkrug did, at least, think he'd fired West Ham back in front within a matter of minutes, firing home only for the semi-automated offside technology to show Jean-Clair Todibo's toes were offside before he put in his cross.

While West Ham's customary collapse did not come immediately, it came eventually. Trevor Chalobah pounced on Paqueta's heavy touch before Pedro crossed low to the back post and found an unmarked Pedro Neto to make it two before Estevao, a late addition after Palmer injured himself in the warm-up, jinked his way into the box and pulled the ball back to Enzo Fernande, who became the latest unmarked black shirt to tap in.

Potter stood with his arms crossed and looked at the ground. The Chelsea fans waved cheerio to the streams of West Ham fans who decided now might be a decent time to get a pint so they could be back in time to boo the players off at half-time.

West Ham are in serious trouble if they do not get some legs in midfield before the window shuts and find some way of dealing with simple crosses into the box. Even the added youthful exuberance of Freddie Potts as an extra man in the middle and a tweak in system after the break did little to stop Chelsea exploiting the cavernous wasteland.

Fernandez mauraded through it unsolicited exchanged passes with Neto, got on the end of another cross but stabbed it over the top.

The club thought they had sorted one pressing issue in the summer with the signing of goalkeeper Mads Hermansen but on the back of a dreadful debut against Sunderland, he flapped at another two corners to give Moises Caicedo and Chalobah the chance to get in on the act. When he dived on a bobbling ball late on, the ironic jeers from the home fans told you all you needed to know.

Potter said this week that no 'silver bullet' could fix West Ham's troubles in the transfer window. After this, you imagine some of his side's supporters will think there's a different kind of bullet that could do just the trick.