Chelsea easily brushed aside Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham United team at the weekend.
The Blues managed to win 3-0, with Nicolas Jackson scoring a brace and Cole Palmer adding another goal to his yet another productive season.
It was a one sided match with Enzo Maresca’s team easily dealing with the threat, or rather lack of it, against a newly built Hammers side.
Maresca was full of praise for one of his players after the match, claiming that he loves him for how he has performed so far.
Defender Wesley Fofana, who had to play at the right-back position due to injuries to Reece James and Malo Gusto, earned the praise from his manager for his fine performance.
‘Wes is a player that I really love, I am in love with Wes!’ said Maresca after beating West Ham, as quoted by the club’s official website.
‘He is doing fantastic after one year injured and, for any player in the world, when you are out for one year and then you come back it is not easy, and he is doing top. This is the only thing we want from him.’
The manager confirmed that the decision to take Fofana off is not related to any injury.
Maresca revealed that he was only trying to protect the player when he decided to take him off after an hour because Fofana was already on a yellow card and it was wise to not expose him to the West Ham attackers.
Enzo Maresca has turned around Chelsea’s fortunes
After a disappointing time under former manager Mauricio Pochettino, Chelsea have started the season well under Maresca.
They are currently fifth in the league, just a point behind Arsenal who are in fourth position.
The Blues have managed to win ten points from their first five matches of the season, with their only defeat of the season coming against defending champions Manchester City in their opening match of the season.
It is an encouraging sign for the West London club who are finally starting to gain some momentum and consistency, which has been missing from their game for the last two seasons.