Nicolas Jackson stuns fans with two-goal salvo against West Ham as he emerges as closest Premier League challenger to Erling Haaland

After joining the Blues in 2023 from La Liga side Villarreal, the striker had a tough time settling down in his new surroundings. Although he scored 17 goals, a decent return for a striker, it was far below expectations. And after Chelsea's 2-0 loss to Manchester City in the campaign opener, former Blues midfielder Jon Obi Mikel, slammed him for squandering goalscoring opportunities.

Jackson shut Mikel up with a goal and an assist in the 6-2 rout of Wolves and then scored another in the next outing against Crystal Palace. On Saturday afternoon, he continued with his goal-scoring heroics against a leaky West Ham defence to fire Chelsea to a 2-0 lead within the first 20 minutes.

Referring to Mikel's criticism, @StokeyyG2, wrote on X: "Nicolas Jackson took that s*it PERSONALLY…".

Meanwhile, @Crageslim, wrote: "Mikel really criticised this guy into form!!!"

Whereas, @BodmaxFTX, wrote: "2 chance 2 Goals That's how a striker should do."

@David___Peters, wrote: "Now you know the boy is cooking finally..."

And @itzshadow_027 predicted: "A hat trick from Jackson loading."

Jackson's impressive first-half performance saw his goal tally rise to eight in the Premier League since May 2024. Only Erling Haaland has struck more with 15 strikes to his name.

Jackson would look to continue with his brilliant form when Chelsea host Barrow on Tuesday evening in an EFL Cup third-round fixture.