Three things we learned as Chelsea turn on the style without injured Cole Palmer to beat West Ham | OneFootball

A slow start turned into a Samba-inspired blitz

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For the first time since December 2021, Chelsea are top of the Premier League table.

Victory was all the more impressive given Cole Palmer was due to start but was replaced by Estevao because of an injury scare in the warm-up. The Blues impressed in his absence.

Here, Standard Sport assesses three things we learned from Chelsea's huge victory.

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Chelsea cope fine without Palmer

It must have given Enzo Maresca an almighty scare before the match when he heard Cole Palmer had returned to the dressing room early after feeling something.

Palmer was set to start but was replaced in the line-up by Estevao as an injury “precaution” and Chelsea will be sure to assess him on Saturday at Cobham.

In his stead, though, Chelsea put on a real show. In fact, they produced arguably the best attacking performance of the season by any team so far.

Maresca used Estevao and Joao Pedro as two No10s in what was effectively a 3-4-2-1 — a departure from the 4-2-3-1 system they would have adopted had Palmer played.

Estevao, Joao Pedro, Liam Delap and Pedro Neto all combined with creativity and spark in a free-flowing attack that bamboozled West Ham after Lucas Paqueta had scored his remarkable long shot for the first goal of the game for the Hammers.

Palmer remains the catalyst of the Chelsea attack, but they functioned superbly without him at the London Stadium.

Star: Joao Pedro

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Brazilian Samba gets Chelsea up and running

The use of Brazil internationals Joao Pedro and Estevao as two floating No10s was a masterstroke by Maresca at such short notice.

Joao Pedro had an evening that will fill him with immense confidence as he seeks to prove he has what it takes to become one of Chelsea’s primary sources of goals and assists. He scored the Chelsea leveller and then registered two assists. The first, an instinctive, no-look ball curved into the path of Neto, was an absolute delight — the Portugal winger was unmarked and applied a simple finish.

Just as confident was Estevao, hauled into the limelight for Palmer to make his full debut. One outstanding burst of pace past two defenders to the byline was followed by fine maturity as he squared for Enzo Fernandez to make it 3-1. Estevao had become Chelsea’s youngest-ever Premier League assister at just 18 years and 120 days old.

He almost scored in the second half, too, when Reece James put him through, and all game he was a threat with direct running.

Estevao’s attacking output was an important response because he was partly at fault for West Ham’s opener by dawdling on the ball and being dispossessed near the halfway line. He must iron out such kinks in his game, but was thrilling again going forward.

Debut: Jorrel Hato

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Important minutes in the legs

Chelsea have a very large squad and considerable squad depth. That is a point almost not worth making.

But what follows is the need for Maresca to keep all players happy. In that sense, the fact Chelsea were already 5-1 after 58 minutes allowed the Italian to make changes and get valuable minutes in the legs for a number of players.

On came Wesley Fofana for his first competitive appearance since March, such have been his injury woes since joining the club in 2022. And Jorrel Hato appeared, too, making his Chelsea debut since his initial £37million move from Ajax earlier this month.

Plus Andrey Santos came on. The 21-year-old is not being allowed out on loan or to be sold, according to Maresca. His performance was positive once he came on in midfield, and later on Maresca was able to hand a second competitive appearance to Jamie Gittens, who was dropped following a slightly disappointing performance when he started in the goalless draw against Crystal Palace last Sunday.

All in all, this was an extremely encouraging night for Chelsea. For now at least, they are top of the Premier League table.