Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer will grab much of the limelight after Chelsea's emphatic 3-0 win over West Ham.
But there was another player at the London Stadium who also caught the eye.
Jadon Sancho started a Chelsea match for the first time since his move from Manchester United on deadline day.
In fact he started a Premier League game for the first time since 28 May 2023 when he scored for United against Fulham.
The 24-year-old bagged himself an assist for Chelsea's opening goal scored by Nicolas Jackson - Sancho's second for the Blues after coming on to set-up the winner against Bournemouth a week ago.
Sancho was industrious, used the ball intelligently and looks like he will be able to strike up a good rapport with Jackson and Cole Palmer.
He also had a passing accuracy of 90% as well as two chances created and two dribbles during the 90 minutes.
It's early days but these are encouraging signs for a player who has something of a point to prove after the way things went at Old Trafford.
Jadon Sancho wasted no time before making a mark on his full debut after assisting Chelsea's opening goal against West Ham United inside four minutes of their match at the London Stadium.
Sancho, 24, played a quick one-two with Nicolas Jackson inside his half to set the striker away down the left flank. While the Senegal international did much of the work, the pass meant Sancho was momentarily averaging an assist every 25 minutes in a Chelsea shirt.
His first came on debut at Bournemouth after coming off the bench at half-time last weekend to set up fellow substitute Christopher Nkunku for a late winner. On that occasion, Sancho's impact was a bit more meaningful.
After receiving the ball on the left, he squared up Julian Araujo before firing an incisive pass into the feet of Nkunku inside the penalty area. That is now as many assists as Sancho managed in 24 matches across all competitions for Borussia Dortmund last season.
Sancho also already has more Premier League assists than any Manchester United player so far this season. Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Dalot, Amad, Alejandro Garnacho and Noussair Mazraoui all have one assist each so far this campaign - although Chelsea have now played one match more than United ahead of their encounter with Bournemouth on Saturday evening.
The winger only set up six goals during his whole United career, which will conclude this summer when Chelsea are obligated to buy the winger for between £20m and £25m. However, his creativity was clear at Dortmund, assisting 58 goals in four seasons ahead of signing for Manchester United.
In the latter of those two campaigns, Sancho set up 19 goals in each, and 16 in the previous years across all competitions. He is currently on course to hit those heights if this start to life for the Blues continues.
After his debut, in a post-match interview that ended with him being awarded the man of the match honour, Sancho said: "It’s amazing to make my debut for Chelsea, just being back playing, I’m very grateful." He also added: "I’ve been working hard for this moment, and I’m just happy that I got my chance."
Jadon Sancho's impact at Chelsea has already been profound.
The Manchester United outcast joined the Blues on Deadline Day of the summer window and his loan deal is expected to become permanent next year.
In just two games, Sancho has looked rejuvenated and Enzo Maresca has praised the 24-year-old's impact and discipline, which was allegedly a problem at Old Trafford.
The winger was a standout performer in his first 45 minutes as a Chelsea player against Bournemouth, notching the assist for Christopher Nkunku's game-winner.
“If a player comes and doesn’t look motivated or passionate, it’s a problem. Now a player comes and looks passionate and motivated, it’s a problem? It’s not a problem,” Maresca said.
“It just shows his desire. I don’t think there was any kind of discipline problem in that game. Jadon showed what we expected from him. Not only in that 45 minutes, but also in the day-by-day, the way he is working, it’s fantastic. Hopefully, it can continue in that way.”
The former England international followed up on his Bournemouth showing with an instant impact against West Ham a week later. After just four minutes, he recorded his second assist in as many games, albeit he did not have to do much to get it.
Sancho played a one-two with Nicolas Jackson near the halfway line before the latter went on a brilliant run to score Chelsea's opener. While a flukey assist, it was an assist nonetheless and shows that the winger is having a real impact.
To put Sancho's two games at Chelsea into perspective, he has already provided more assists now than in his previous 12 games for Man Utd combined while he also already boasts the same amount of goal contributions as former Red Devils teammate Mason Mount, for example.
It would be foolish to read too much into two games, but Sancho is looking more and more like his Dortmund self rather than his Man Utd version.
Sancho, 24, is on loan at Chelsea from the Red Devils.
He put in a Man of the Match debut after coming on off the bench at half-time against Bournemouth to provide the match-winning assist.
Enzo Maresca consequently awarded Sancho with a start against West Ham.
And once again he has paid back his manager's faith by contributing an assist to Nicolas Jackson's clever opening goal just four minutes in.
This put Sancho on two league assists for the Blues.
However, at previous club Man Utd, where Sancho never truly never managed to bed in, it took him an astonishing seven months to match the same league numbers.
Sancho joined United in the summer of 2021 from Borussia Dortmund in a transfer deal worth £73million.
However, following a stop-start season for him personally amid the struggles the club faced, Sancho did not register his first assists until February against Leeds.
That game, a 4-2 win for Ralf Rangnick's side, saw him register two assists.
He would add a third assist of the season against Tottenham three games later before his season was prematurely ended by injury.
Meanwhile, it took him until his 10th game to score his first United goal, ironically against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Overall, Sancho hit 12 goals and six assists for United but saw himself sidelined for much of last season following a falling out with Erik ten Hag where the Dutchman criticised his training performances.
A public rebuttal from Sancho with no apology prompted Ten Hag to freeze him out of first-team training before the winger was sent on loan to former club Borussia Dortmund, where he had a mixed spell.
After apparently burying the hatchet with Ten Hag this season, Sancho missed a crucial penalty in the Community Shield penalty shootout against Manchester City.
He then sealed a deadline day loan move to Stamford Bridge, where the early indicators are he has captured his old form in Germany.
[Sancho, who moved to Chelsea from Manchester United in the summer, made a substitute appearance in matchweek 4 in what was his debut for the club last week.](https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/sports/jadon-sancho-impresses-for-chelsea-versus-west-ham/story)
He has done an able job in both games.
Chelsea blanked sorry West Ham United 3-0 as Nicolas Jackson was assisted by Sancho for the opener in the 4th minute.
West Ham switched off during a set piece and Jackson scored after playing a one-two with Sancho.
Sancho was subbed off by Maresca in the 57th minute, being replaced by fellow new arrival Pedro Neto.
Before the match versus West Ham, Sancho played 45 minutes in Chelsea's 1-0 win over Bournemouth. As per Squawka, Sancho made 17 passes in final third and won possession 4 times.
He also won 3 touches in opposition box and clocked 2 successful take-ons in addition to winning 2 duels. He created two chances and made one assist.
Sancho has assisted in back-to-back Premier League games for the first time in his career. Meanwhile, Sancho has provided more assists in his two games for Chelsea (2) than in his previous 12 Premier League appearances for Manchester United combined.
As per Player comparison Matrix (data by Opta), Sancho has played 102 minutes for Chelsea across two matches. He has created three chances.
Out of 48 passes attempted, he has completed 42 with an accuracy of 87.5%.
He has completed three take-ons and owns seven touches in the opposition box.
Sancho has provided two through balls and completed three lay-offs.
Chelsea secured a big win on the road over West Ham United, dismantling the Irons in Saturday's London derby. Nicolas Jackson scored a brace for the Blues before the hosts were controversially not awarded a penalty, but Cole Palmer made sure of the win shortly after the interval.
But the focus for many was on new signing Jadon Sancho, who was handed his first start for the west Londoners and his full debut in the process. Having joined on loan from Manchester United, the Englishman impressed off the bench against Bournemouth, setting up Christopher Nkunku for the only goal of the game.
There were questions about whether the winger could make the same impact from the off against West Ham, especially considering the amount of pressure he is under to succeed at Stamford Bridge following a disastrous few years at United. He was confronted with a difficult test too, facing off against former teammate Aaron Wan-Bissaka who has regularly locked up fleet-footed wide players throughout his career.
Despite all the expectation, Sancho put in a decent showing against a team who Chelsea have struggled against over the years. He managed to grab his second assist in as many games when he combined with Jackson for the first goal, although the effort was mainly all down to the striker.
Jackson received all the plaudits for his efforts up front, and rightly so. Sancho, meanwhile, put in solid display but didn't have a stand-out performance. Although he created another chance before his withdrawal just before the hour mark, his influence on the game dwindled over time, with him only winning one of his four duels and completing just one of his two dribbles.
Nevertheless, his high passing accuracy and steady overall performance will give Chelsea fans further hope that the best is yet to come from their new signing. And Chelsea fans are already confident that their newest player will prove to be a hit.
Although Sancho's 57-minute performance didn't showcase his abilities to the fullest, Chelsea fans were pleased with what they saw from him. One simply praised him by saying, "What a player", while another wrote: "Maresca is the perfect manager for Jadon. The tactics suits him." The consensus that Chelsea are perfectly set up tactically for Sancho to succeed was echoed by another fan, who said: "Sancho in a possession based system >>>>>"
As well as how Sancho is used on the pitch, some fans were keen to point out that the atmosphere at the club is allowing Sancho to thrive. One wrote:
"The real Sancho... Trust brings confidence. As simple as it was with BVB."
There were some, though, who recognised the need for Sancho to improve in certain areas. One fan pointed out that if he can develop lower body strength similar to that of Chelsea legend Eden Hazard, then the Blues could have a 'top player' on their hands.
"If Sancho could get Hazard's lower body strength and a little bit more acceleration there's a top player there. What I didn't realize is how good his weight of pass in the box is."
Considering how many players Enzo Maresca has to choose from on the right and left flank, Sancho will need to build on a decent performance in order to make that spot in the team his own. But all things considered, there is certainly cause for optimism among supporters.
All statistics courtesy of
Sofascore
and
Statman Dave
.
