Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer give Chelsea a convincing win over West Ham | Premier League

Another Chelsea away win, more positive signs for Enzo Maresca and the vision of Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali They sat together in the stands of the London Stadium. If everything seemed harmonious at Chelsea, then perhaps we should talk about West Ham.

After two previous home defeats, East End were no longer making any moves on Julen Lopetegui. Many Hammers fans were in favour of David Moyes' departure after years of a creditable, if often unexciting, run to secure an adventurous continental replacement. It has already been noted that the Basque is not one of the great liberals of European football.

Can you mount a defense? Certainly not against… ChelseaHis goals came through gaping, painful holes in his team. There was no defensive rigour in Nicolas Jackson's early goal, and the ones that followed were much the same, the die was cast by their almost fortuitous nature.

Right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka was looking in another direction when Jackson was sent off by Jadon Sancho's quick free-kick, Edson Alvarez not much more alert, chasing in vain as the striker outpaced Alphonse Areola.

Two games, two assists for Sancho, although as Last week in BournemouthThe goalscorer had plenty to do, though Areola could have done better. Christopher Nkunku, despite his goal at Bournemouth, was left on the bench until the second half, but Sancho, his substitute teammate at Vitality, started for the first time. Chelsea, with their eyes on a deal, believe they have made a great success of his loan and cut-price transfer from Manchester United. Perhaps chaos at Chelsea suits Sancho better than dysfunction at United. Footballers can be fun like that.

And in Jackson, the purest of raw materials, Chelsea may have a decent striker, or at least an asset who can be exploited for more than he cost, as is the priority at Stamford Bridge these days. Toothless at Bournemouth, he was excellent in east London, his second goal executed beautifully, with the outside of his boot. Moisés Caicedo had split – and all too easily – Álvarez and Maximilian Kilman with a through ball. Barely 18 minutes had passed and there were already boos and whistles from the home fans as Lopetegui fumed on the sidelines.

Chelsea are not a hermetic team either. As at Bournemouth and even when they went on a rampage at Wolves last month, they remain vulnerable to opponents making runs beyond their midfield. And they were lucky too. PGMOL boss Howard Webb has some explaining to do after VAR Stuart Attwell ruled Wesley Fofana’s mistreatment of Crysencio Summerville was “fleeting”.

The injustice briefly fired up the Hammers, and Lopetegui looked as embarrassed as Moyes, covering the game like a pundit in Doha, might be. With eight minutes remaining in the first half, he had seen enough. Tomas Soucek replaced the anonymous Guido Rodriguez, a tactical change looking to bulk up, and the newcomer’s low, unhindered shot was the first save asked of Robert Sanchez.

Within 70 seconds of the restart, all three points were heading west down the District Line, Jackson again passing and, as Kilman backed off, he was fooled by the striker’s clever pass. Cole Palmer is too good a finisher to pass up such a chance, and his shot crashed off a post. As Maresca celebrated, Lopetegui fumed. For all the attacking talent Chelsea have amassed, every goal was entirely avoidable. Once Mohammed Kudus lost the ball in midfield, Kilman and Areola were given no protection.

There were boos when Summerville was replaced by Michail Antonio, although another failing of the Hammers' new formation is that Jarrod Bowen's best work comes from the flanks, rather than as a centre-forward who is asked to hold up the ball.

Meanwhile, Sancho and Palmer left to applause from the home fans, and Nkunku and João Félix arrived, the former demonstrating his goal-scoring prowess with a header that forced Areola to make a great save.

Lopetegui replaced Lucas Paquetá, a disappointment under the new regime, with Andy Irving, a Scot signed from Austria Klagenfurt almost a year ago, who made his debut for the Hammers. Irving arrived for a game zombified. The fact that West Ham's season would begin with three consecutive home defeats, an unwelcome record for the club, had long been decided.