West Ham took a major step towards securing their spot in the Premier League with a brilliant 3-2 win over London rivals Chelsea.
West Ham went into the match in seventeenth position, just out of the relegation zone only by goal difference. Results earlier in the day went the Hammer’s way, Bournemouth and Norwich both suffered big defeats.
David Moyes announced a changed line-up, Angelo Ogbonna reclaimed his spot at centre-back ahead of Fabian Balbuena. The other change was Manneul Lanzini in for an injured Mark Noble in the midfield, meaning Declan Rice took the captains armband for the match.
Chelsea had the first chance of the match. Willian cut inside from the left-wing and whipped a powerful looking shot into the arms of West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski. West Ham also created a dangerous moment of their own.
Michail Antonio burst through the Chelsea backline, but could only drag his shot wide of the left-hand post. It was unfortunate that he hadn’t dragged it enough as Lanzini just couldn’t reach it to poke it into an open goal.
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Chelsea did start to dominate proceedings. West Ham looked very narrow and the Blues took advantage of this. One chance came from a cross-field pass to Willian whose ball inside was dummied by Tammy Abraham for Christan Pulisic. The Americans shot, however, whizzed past a helpless Fabianski and fortunately West Ham the post.
West Ham thought they took lead in the 34th minute. Tomas Soucek had the ball in the back of the net following a corner, but it was ruled out for offside against Antonio. The Hammers will feel hard done by considering the winger was flat on the ground and the ball didn’t appear to hit him.
To add insult to injury, only a couple of minutes later Chelsea won a penalty after Pulisic was clumsily brought down by Hammers defender Issa Diop. thee Brazilian Willian stepped up and sent Fabianski the wrong way to give the Blues the lead before the break.
West Ham reacted well after the Chelsea goal. Some good work from Antonio earned the Hammers a corner. Jarrod Bowen‘s cross was headed into the back of the net, by who else then Soucek, to bring West Ham level at the break. No VAR this time!
The second half began with both teams looking for a second goal. The match became quite stretched and end to end. West Ham looked the better side and made it count. Antonio was brought down in the box, but Fornals kept the ball alive and laid it off for Bowen who put the ball perfectly across for Antonio to fire it in to put the Hammers ahead.
West Ham had a great chance to double their lead. A quick counter-attack down the right flank, Bowen cut inside and found Lanzini in an acre of space on the edge of the box. The Argentine looked to bend it into the top corner but could only find the stands with his effort.
Chelsea was in search of an equaliser and started to put the Hammers under a lot of pressure, the Hammers defence stood firm. Rice and Soucek were superb at blocking the Chelsea advances. Frank Lampard rang the changes for the Blues, bringing on Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Olivier Giroud.
Chelsea’s barrage of the West ham goal stepped up a level after the changes. The Blues went close on a few occasions with the ball just evading their attackers. The Hammers were holding on by the skin of their teeth.
David Moyes decided to make his change. Jack Wilshere made his long-anticipated return, replacing Lanzini just before the water break in the second half. The Englishman would play alongside Rice and Soucek.
West Ham’s resistance was broken by the Blues by a piece of magic. Rice brought down Pulisic outside the area around 25 yards out. Chelsea’s goalscorer Willian whipped a beautiful free-kick off the right post and into the goal. There will be questions surrounding Fabianski’s positioning.
Chelsea really started to search for a winner, forcing West Ham deeper and deeper into their half. The Hammer’s were unable to get out with any real meaning. Moyes tried to turn the tide replacing an exhausted Bowen with the Ukrainian Andriy Yarmolenko. The hope would be that the tall winger would help keep the ball in the Chelsea half.
It still remained a case of Chelsea attack and West Ham clearing the ball. The main issue was the lack of support for Antonio when the clearance would reach him he was far too isolated to keep the ball for long.
But it was Moyes’ substitute that struck late-on. Antonio won the ball on the half-way line and played in the Yarmolenko. The Ukrainian ran through on goal and in classic fashion cut on to his favoured left foot and fired into the bottom corner past the Chelsea goalkeeper. The goal would be enough to secure West Ham a massive three points.
Man of the Match: Tomas Soucek
There were a few candidates after the match, Bowen with two assists and Rice for his defensive performance. Michail Antonio was another candidate after a goal and an assist for the winner.
But, Soucek was a combination of both defence and attack, throwing his body were it hurt and had the ball in the net on two occasions (although only one counted). The Czech showed a fantastic response after his unfortunate Spurs appearance.
West Ham United move up too sixteenth, leapfrogging Watford, three points ahead of the relegation zone. They will next travel to Newcastle in the Premier League. The Hammers will be hoping to take the momentum from this result through to the rest of the season.