West Ham shock the world, beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge

One of the most exciting teams in the Premier League versus one of the most underperforming teams. Who would have thought that West Ham would look as energetic as they did and steal the win against Chelsea? Here’s how it shook out.

It’s fair to say Manuel Pellegrini got the memo about making changes for this match against Chelsea. The loss to Tottenham last week, while close on the scoreline, was upsetting due to a completely non-existent team effort and poor team selection from the manager. The message was received, however, as West Ham looked solid and unified against Chelsea.

To begin with, there were plenty of changes to the starting XI including David Martin’s Premier League debut. It had to be done and he looked stellar in this match, making some great saves and earning the clean sheet. Fabian Balbuena also drew in for the suspended Issa Diop, Pablo Fornals assumed the left-mid spot, and Sebastien Haller was dropped for Michail Antonio in a shocking move.

As turned over as this XI was, Chelsea clearly took their foot off the petal mentally heading into this match, with Frank Lampard giving substitutes and youngsters a runout. The feared Tammy Abraham was injured midweek, so Olivier Giroud got the start over Michy Batshuayi, while Pedro, Mason Mount, and Reece James all also started.

More from Green Street Hammers - West Ham

The match started, and ran out, with Chelsea pressing the attack early. In previous weeks we had seen the Hammers crumble with early pressure but this was not so at Stamford Bridge. Pellegrini’s men bent but didn’t break, pushing back the Blues with Angelo Ogbonna defensive headers and Declan Rice outletting passes.

Antonio had two great early chances from wide crosses. On both occasions, Antonio pushed passed his marker and got in a dangerous area, missing the first chance but forcing a save from Kepa Arrizabalaga. Chelsea’s best chance in the opening half came from a Mateo Kovacic shot which was saved, as well as the rebound from Giroud, and the Martin snatched up the rebound from Pedro.

Just after the restart in the 47th minute, West Ham would take the lead with the eventual game-winner coming off of the right boot of Aaron Cresswell. Both he and Ryan Fredericks did well all match getting forward and bringing wide pressure. A perfectly weighted ball from Fornals would let Cresswell run onto it, cutting back inside to lose his defender and curling a shot beautifully into the bottom corner.

The rest of the match saw the Hammers nearly net twice on corner kicks, one off the head of Balbuena which forced a great save, and another bundled in by Antonio which was called off due to accidental arm contact by the forward.

Predictably so, the final ten minutes of the match was run by Chelsea. Pellegrini’s substitutions did help quell the onslaught, however, with Arthur Masuaku playing left-mid for the relieved Fornals, Andriy Yarmolenko acted as the #10 for Felipe Anderson, and Haller replaced Antonio up top. Solid tactics from the gaffer to be sure.

Next. Live, fan influenced, player grades for West Ham United v Chelsea!. dark

This match seemed like a complete performance from West Ham with many storylines to be had. Martin marks his Premier League debut with a clean sheet, Rice tops Mount in the BFF battle, West Ham paints London Claret and Blue, and the season is back on track. Push on and build and Manuel Pellegrini might even be safe, too!