Nicolas Jackson opened the scoring for Chelsea in the 4th minute. 14 minutes later, he doubled the lead, officially extinguishing the hopes of the home team West Ham when the London Derby had not yet passed half of the first half.
Not stopping there, when the second half just started, the Senegalese striker shined again with an assist for Cole Palmer to seal a 3-0 victory. That result helped Chelsea temporarily rise to second place in the table before Arsenal traveled to Man City's field in the late match on Sunday.
The match against West Ham was quite special for Chelsea as it had been a long time since owner Todd Boehly had appeared in the away stands. This time it was even more special because next to Boehly was Behdad Eghbali. The American billionaire is a co-owner of Chelsea with Todd Boehly. I can't remember the last time Boehly and Eghbali both attended a match of The Blues.
For Chelsea fans, the presence of the club's owner in the stands is not so important. The people they should pay attention to are Enzo Maresca and the players on the pitch. However, from the perspective of running the club, the presence of the American billionaire couple is very important.
About a week before the match, the British media reported that there seemed to be a rift between Boehly and Eghbali. Every time the television cameras panned to the billionaire couple in the stands, they did not communicate. Whether the two sides have reconciled or not is impossible to confirm, but the fact that they appeared together shows that the club is still stable internally. Therefore, Chelsea's stock price will not be able to fall during this sensitive time.
After the match, Captain Maresca confirmed that both bosses were happy with Chelsea's convincing 3-0 victory. Second place in the rankings is the best achievement of The Blues since Todd Boehly took over in the summer of 2022. Everything is positive and if it comes from this victory, Nicolas Jackson is very important.
Returning to the 23-year-old striker, he has been under a lot of pressure since last season and during the 2024-2025 pre-season. Two weeks ago, Jackson signed a 9-year extension with Chelsea, a deal that many people with negative views considered a "slave contract". Previously, famous player John Obi Mikel also commented that Chelsea should buy Victor Osimhen to replace Nicolas Jackson because they could not put their trust in the Senegalese striker.
Jackson squandered a number of chances against Bournemouth last week, with Christopher Nkunku scoring the only goal of the game to earn Chelsea all three points. That result put pressure on Maresca to start Nkunku in the away game at West Ham, but he stuck to Jackson and was rewarded.
Jackson's two goals had a lot of time to think and adjust. He did not disappoint his coach when he finished with absolute precision, bringing his total goals since the beginning of the season to 4.
It was that same calmness that Jackson displayed in his assist for Palmer early in the second half. On a surprisingly sublime day, it felt like Jackson's G/A wouldn't stop at 3. However, that energy and inspiration should be restrained for the next matches.
When he left the field in the 64th minute, Jackson was greeted by thousands of Chelsea fans in the stands with applause and chants of "Nico! Nico!". This was a great encouragement for Jackson to be considered the "new Drogba" at Stamford Bridge in the future.
