The world champions are top of the competition and they didn't even need Cole Palmer to bring them there. You don't need players of its quality to beat a West Ham side as poorly as this one.
Fates are never decided after two games, but for Chelsea this pounding victory in the London Stadium, with goals that are shared between Joao Pedro, Pedro Neto, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Trevoh Chalobah, secured an elevated perch that their owners have since taken over from the club.
Chelsea will probably only stay there until this afternoon, and if they want to keep themselves in any form of title race, they will have to send better teams than this miserable West Ham outfit.
But for the first time since Todd Boehly took over and splashed more than a billion, he can go to sleep after he has looked a last look at the league table and saw his at the top of the table. The last time they ended up was in December 2021.
You imagine that he will sleep better than Graham Potter, who saw his side collapse again in shameful, shameful way. Five goals, all of crosses or corners, to leave them at the bottom of the table. You cannot imagine that they will go out of their position just as quickly unless something changes. West Ham needs players and Pronto.
Potter has now taken the lead on so many competition matches as his predecessor Julen Lopetegui was offered before he was relieved of his position. The record of the Spaniard was: 20 games, six wins, five draw, nine defeats, 23 points. After last night, Potter's is 20 games, five wins, five draws, 10 defeats, 20 points. His nine points of his first 10 home Premier League matches is the worst in the history of the club.
The most fight that someone showed was when a child ran on the field and what seemed like his father took Umbrage with the hard -handed stewards trying to accompany the little Tyke back to the stands.
The stage -broadcaster did his best to record an early atmosphere and to welcome the supporters for not just a first home game of the season, but a London Derby Under The Lights. “What else could you want,” he asked. You wondered if the splashing of fans who had come early on their seats would give their answers alphabetically or in order of preference.
However, that list would be quite high for your Brazilian playmaker, in his first competitive home game since he was released from spot-fixing, to place one in the upper corner from 25 Yards within the first 10 minutes. There was a little hope.
Paqueta wore the ball forward, looked up to see if there was anyone to go on and when nobody took his own, he let his left foot fly.
Supporters of West Ham have experienced small moments to lift them from their seats lately, but boy, this succeeded.
But this is of course a team that has won only twice on this ground since Potter took the lead. It would never be easy to secure a third party, not when his defense is so skilled in not doing, as Potter called this week, the 'base'.
Two goals from crosses against Sunderland and another five here. For a team that plays with five at the back, they have a real talent not to have none near opposition players when the ball enters the box.
The first was a simple angle in the box, threw Marc Cucurella on the nearby pole and nodded undisputed from a meter through Pedro.
Niclas Fullkrug thought at least that he had fired West Ham in the front within a few minutes and only shot home for the semi-automated offside technology to show the toes of Jean-Clair Todibo, were offside before he stopped his crotch.
Although the usual collapse of West Ham did not immediately come, it eventually came. Trevor Chalobah bounced on the heavy touch of Paqueta before Pedro Laag crossed to the rear pole and found an unmarked Pedro Neto to make it two before Estevao, a late addition after Palmer injured himself in the warm-up, his way in the box and pulled the new black te tap.
Potter stood with his arms crossed and looked at the ground. The Chelsea fans waved Cheerio to the streams of West Ham fans who now decided that they might have been a decent time to get a pint, so that they could be back on time to condemn the players during the break.
West Ham is in serious problems if they don't get legs in midfield before the window closes and find a way to handle the box with simple crosses. Even the added youthful exuberance of Freddie Potts as an extra man in the middle and a tweak in the system after the break did little to prevent Chelsea from operating the caverneous wasteland.
Fernandez Heerde by unsolicited exchanged steps with Neto, came at the end of another cross, but put it over the top.
The club thought they had created one urgent problem in the summer with the signing of keeper Mads Hermansen, but on the back of a terrible debut against Sunderland he fluttered on another two corners to give Moveises Caicedo and Chalobah the chance to get to the act. When he dived late on a floating ball, the ironic hunters of the home fans told you everything you had to know.
Potter said this week that no 'silver bullet' could solve West Ham's problems in the transfer window. After this you imagine that some supporters of his party will think that there is a different kind of bullet that could do exactly the trick.