West Ham 3 Chelsea 1
If the future looks bright for Chelsea the present reality is that they still lack conviction in both boxes. They dominated long stretches of this game, played the smoother football and still fell to their first defeat under Mauricio Pochettino. West Ham had too much nous, even after being reduced to 10 men midway through the second half, and would charge to a deserved win after punishing Chelsea’s errors at both ends of the pitch.
The narrative belonged to Lucas Paquetá, whose move to Manchester City fell apart after news of an English Football Association investigation over potential betting breaches emerged late last week. West Ham’s No 10 grew in influence as the contest progressed, making a mockery of fears that he would not be in a mental state to play, and he sealed it when he scored from the spot in added time. That the penalty had been given away by Moisés Caicedo, Chelsea’s new £115m midfielder, only added to Pochettino’s misery.
The volume was turned up high as the teams emerged and the home fans lifted a mosaic of the Europa Conference League trophy in the Billy Bonds Stand. West Ham were clearly in a pugnacious mood, their belief forged in that triumph over Fiorentina two months ago, and there was little subtlety to their plan. As ever it involved little possession, plenty of committed defending and an acceptance that most of the passing football would be coming from the other team.
As rudimentary as the approach is, the physicality can be effective. There is a robustness to West Ham when it all comes together and it was not long before James Ward-Prowse was showing why Moyes fought so hard for his signature.
It almost felt unfair, a side with West Ham’s record at set pieces adding Ward-Prowse to their armoury, and Chelsea immediately looked nervous. They were fortunate to survive when Ward-Prowse whipped in the first corner from the right, Robert Sanchez bravely denying Tomas Soucek, but they collapsed at the next one. Outnumbered at the far post, Conor Gallagher did not even get off the ground as Nayef Aguerd directed a low header beyond Sanchez.
Chelsea’s response was to fly at West Ham. They moved the ball briskly and could have been level straight away, Enzo Fernández releasing Nicolas Jackson and Alphonse Areola bringing the striker down for what would have been a penalty if the flag had not already gone up for the tightest of offsides.
West Ham were already on the retreat, leaving Antonio isolated in attack against Thiago Silva and Axel Disasi. Paquetá could not get on the ball. It was all Chelsea and they should have been level when Ben Chilwell crossed from the left, only for Jackson to head over from close range.
Jackson was proving to be a handful for Aguerd and Kurt Zouma. West Ham wobbled, an overworked Aguerd picking up his first yellow for dragging Raheem Sterling back, and the thought occurred that they were suffering without Declan Rice protecting their defence.
Chelsea’s goal came in the 28th minute and owed much to the persistence of Chilwell, Jackson and Carney Chukwuemeka. West Ham missed chances to clear their lines and they were in trouble when Zouma prodded Chilwell’s cutback into Chukwuemeka’s path. The 19-year-old swerved past Soucek with a beautiful step over and gave Areola no chance with a vicious shot.
There, wrapped up in one thrilling moment, was apparent vindication for Chelsea’s focus on paying big money for talented prospects. Chukwuemeka had been playing well and his first goal since leaving Aston Villa last summer led to a sustained period of dominance for the visitors.
The openings kept coming, Chilwell spurning the best of them, and Chelsea had a chance to lead when Soucek fouled Sterling. The only surprise was Fernández’s technique letting him down, a tame spot-kick allowing Areola to save down to his right.
West Ham had to improve and they almost led again when Paquetá, who had been booked for dissent, hit the woodwork. At half-time, though, the demand from Moyes had to be for greater urgency on the break. West Ham emerged with more intensity and went close when Malo Gusto, deputising for the injured Reece James at right-back, lost Saïd Benrahma.
Chelsea had slightly lost their way after bringing Mykhailo Mudryk on for the injured Chukwuemeka. After 53 minutes Disasi lost possession and Ward-Prowse instantly played the ball over the top for Antonio. The striker shoved Levi Colwill out of the way and made light of a lack of support by smashing a stunning shot past Sanchez.
Behind again, Pochettino responded by introducing Caicedo. Chelsea pushed again and there was another twist when Aguerd was sent off after fouling Jackson.
Moyes reacted by stiffening his defence, Angelo Ogbonna coming on for Benrahma, while Pochettino introduced more width by turning to Noni Madueke. By now it was a question of whether Chelsea had the wit to open West Ham up. Sterling offered hope, driving down the right, but Mudryk summed up an anonymous display when he miscued an easy volley at the far post.
Chelsea ran out of ideas, even with Madueke testing Areola with a deflected effort. West Ham finished strongly and they had a chance to end it when Paquetá linked with Emerson Palmieri, who was caught by Caicedo. Paqueta would not miss from the spot. – Guardian
