Premier League | Chelsea pulverizes West Ham (5-0) and clings to their European dream

Chelsea outclassed West Ham 5-0 on Sunday at home to keep their chances of European qualification intact next season, with the added bonus of the return to competition of French striker Christopher Nkunku, who has been away from the field since the end of February. The Blues started their match with a bang, with three goals in the first thirty-six minutes, and put the turbo back on return from the locker room with a goal from Nicolas Jackson (48th, 4-0), then credited with a double ( 80th, 5-0). The offensive festival was first launched by the young chief pyrotechnician, Cole Palmer (15th, 1-0), scorer of his 21st goal of the season in the Premier League, on the eve of his 22nd birthday. The attacking leader or winger, who arrived this summer from Manchester City where he played little, carried the west London club throughout the 2023-2024 financial year, being involved in 30 goals in total (9 assists) .

Chelsea have three matches left to consolidate their European objective, once morest Nottingham Forest, Brighton (delayed match) and Bournemouth. The residents of Stamford Bridge will be able to count on the reinforcement of Nkunku in the home stretch, who entered in the 77th minute. The Blues are seventh with 54 points, two less than the current sixth Newcastle, pending the trip of Manchester United (8th, 54 pts) Monday evening to Crystal Palace (14th). The final sixth place will allow its owner to compete in the next Europa Conference League, or even the Europa League if Manchester City wins the FA Cup final on May 25 once morest its neighbor United. Aston Villa (4th, 67 pts) retains the last qualifying place for the Champions League, but Tottenham (5th, 60 pts) has played two matches less, including the one in Liverpool late Sunday followingnoon (5:30 p.m.) .

In the other match, Brighton beat Aston Villa 1-0 to move up to eleventh place with 47 points, within shooting range of Bournemouth (10th, 48 pts) and West Ham (9th, 49 pts) who played a match in addition. The Seagulls, more enterprising, struggled for a long time with Robin Olsen, the backup to the injured Emiliano Martinez. The 34-year-old Swede got the better of Pascal Gross (45th+4) and Joao Pedro (63rd), saved by VAR on a goal from Gross (68th), offside. He even stopped a penalty from Pedro, but the Brazilian striker followed well and scored with a header (87th, 1-0).