Chelsea player ratings vs West Ham: Europe beckons for the Blues! Cole Palmer puts Irons to the sword as Conor Gallagher, Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson also impressed to keep top-six hopes alive

Cole Palmer was almost inevitably on target again as Chelsea boosted their hopes of qualifying for Europe next season by routing a woeful West Ham 5-0 on Sunday – but the good news for Mauricio Pochettino’s job prospects that several Blues shone at Stamford Bridge.

Palmer opened the scoring in west London, thus becoming only the third player in Premier League history to achieve 30-plus goal involvements in a single season while aged 21 or younger (21 goals, nine assists). However, the brilliant Conor Gallagher doubled the home side’s advantage with a sweet strike before the livewire Noni Madueke made it 3-0 after just 35 minutes of play.

Jarrod Bowen hit the woodwork twice for West Ham during the first half, but David Moyes’ men were outclassed on the day, and Nicolas Jackson struck twice after the restart as Chelsea climbed up to seventh in the Premier League table, just two points behind sixth -placed Newcastle.

GOAL ranks all of the Blues on show at Stamford Bridge…