(Credit: Imago, Sky Sports)

Oliver Walton

Sat 23 August 2025 14:35, UK

West Ham star Lucas Paqueta has been scathingly criticised for his role in one of Chelsea’s goals as the Irons were thrashed 5-1 by their capital rivals on Friday evening (22 August).

Lucas Paqueta dazzles, Mads Hermansen flops: Three winners and three losers as West Ham are thrashed by Chelsea	PGMOL have 'agenda against what Lucas Paqueta did' in controversial incident vs Chelsea	Newcastle and Chelsea stars react to Lucas Paqueta's emotional message

West Ham’s season got off to a terrible start last weekend as they were beaten 3-0 by newly-promoted Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

They looked to put things right against Chelsea at the London Stadium on Friday night, but were again taught a lesson as Enzo Maresca’s side romped to a 5-1 win despite Paqueta’s fine early strike.

Joao Pedro, Pedro Neto, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Trevoh Chalobah all scored without reply on a great evening for the Blues as they grabbed their first three points of the new season, and it was equally dismal for Graham Potter’s men.

Paqueta’s future at West Ham has been uncertain over the last few months, despite him being cleared of spot-fixing charges [BBC], and he has now been blasted by Merson for some poor defending to allow Chelsea back into the game.

(Credit: Imago)

Paqueta was marking Marc Cucurella as Pedro Neto swung in a Chelsea corner in the 15th minute at the London Stadium, and the diminutive Spaniard out-jumped the Hammers midfielder to flick it backwards into Joao Pedro’s path, with the striker then nodding home to equalise just nine minutes after the Irons’ opener.

Former player turned pundit Merson criticised Paqueta’s poor defending at the front post to allow Cucurella to reach the ball first, and insisted that he deserved to be substituted off after it happened while speaking on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday (12.31pm, 23 August).

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He said: “This, sorry, I worked on the front post all my career at Arsenal.

If that happens to me at the front post, and that man does that and they score, I’m coming off.

Your job, you’ve worked on it, you make sure that ball doesn’t get flicked on at the near post, one million per cent.

It happened to me once in my whole career at Arsenal.”

Football Insider verdict

Paqueta’s on-field talents have been overshadowed by his troubles away from the pitch in recent times, after he was charged with four counts of spot-fixing and two of obstructing an FA investigation [Sky Sports] in May 2024.

Now that he has been officially cleared and can move on with his career without worry, it seems likely that he will stay at the club despite former Irons scout Mick Brown revealing to Football Insider last month that West Ham were preparing to accept £30million offers for Paqueta amid interest from Saudi Pro League clubs.

AppearancesGoalsAssists1221914Paqueta’s West Ham career stats

Brown told Football Insider on Wednesday (20 August) that West Ham have now decided to keep Paqueta in a surprising U-turn, and so they should have, as his goal on Friday proved his quality despite his defensive drawbacks.

Under-pressure boss Potter needs all the help he can get right now after a terrible start to the new campaign, and keeping a player of the Brazilian’s talent is a no-brainer, but he now needs to step up to become a talisman once again and return to his outstanding form from the 2023/24 season.

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