West Ham United 3-2 Chelsea
Premier League
West Ham United twice came from behind to secure a memorable derby victory over Chelsea at London Stadium on Saturday.
The Hammers had to show their mettle against the league leaders, fighting back after Thiago Silva and Mason Mount twice gave them the lead.
David Moyes’ men spirit and character has never been in question and they showed it in bundles once again, levelling first through Manuel Lanzini’s penalty and then Jarrod Bowen’s low strike.
That set the scene for Arthur Masuaku to win it in style late on, as his cross-shot flew in at the near post to give his team another huge three points.
David Moyes handed first Premier League starts of the season to Lanzini and Issa Diop as he opted to match Chelsea up with three centre-backs.
The Premier League leaders got on the ball early, and dominated possession in the opening stages without really cutting their hosts open.
Hakim Ziyech wasn’t far away in the sixth minute, latching on to Reece James’ low cross from the right, but not finding enough power on his shot and Craig Dawson’s half-block allowed it to run through to Łukasz Fabiański.
West Ham’s prowess from set-plays this season is well documented, but they were on the receiving end of one just before the half hour, as Chelsea took the lead. Thiago Silva leapt highest to meet a corner from the right with a downward header which had too much power for Fabiański to keep out.
The Brazilian defender showed his worth at the other end shortly afterwards too, positioning himself behind goalkeeper Édouard Mendy to block Vladimír Coufal’s goalbound effort.
By now Chelsea were finding pockets of space to operate in midfield, and Mount let fly with an effort which Fabiański held onto as they looked for a second.
But, five minutes before the interval, they were the architects of their own downfall at the other end as Jorginho’s underhit backpass left Mendy in trouble. Bowen placed the keeper under sufficient pressure to draw a foul and all of as sudden the Hammers had the chance to level from the spot.
Lanzini made no mistake from 12 yards, sending Mendy the wrong way with his effort into the top left hand corner.
It was a gift for the Hammers, but they were unable to hold onto it until the break, with Mount’s accurate low volley beating Fabiański at his near post to give Chelsea the advantage again on 44 minutes.
West Ham regrouped at the break and emerged for the second half with purpose – and a second equaliser was their reward on 56 minutes.
Bowen was the goalscorer, collecting a knockdown from Antonio 18 yards from goal and sending a sweetly-struck effort through Andreas Christensen’s legs, giving Mendy no chance to save.
Chelsea called for Romelu Lukaku from the bench as they looked to reassert themselves, but the next big chance fell West Ham’s way as Bowen and Antonio combined to good effect once more.
This time the No9 used his strength to shrug off Christensen’s chasllenge inside the box and send a low ball fizzing across the six-yard box.
Bowen slid in, but couldn’t quite get there, diverting wide with his studs on the stretch.
Three minutes from time though, there was no denying Masuaku, as he lined up on the left flank and assessed his options in the centre.
He delivered towards the near post with power and whip, and Mendy was only able to help it on its way in for a quite spectacular winner.
West Ham United: Fabiański, Dawson, Zouma (Fornals 71), Diop, Coufal, Rice, Souček, Johnson (Masuaku 45+2), Bowen, Lanzini (Benrahma 85), Antonio
Subs: Randolph (GK), Ashby, Noble, Král, Vlašić, Yarmolenko
Goals: Lanzini pen 40, Bowen 56, Masuaku 87
Chelsea: Mendy, Christensen, Thiago Silva, Rüdiger, James, Loftus-Cheek, Jorginho, Alonso (Pulisic 73), Ziyech (Hudson-Odoi 64), Mount, Havertz (Lukaku 46)
Subs: Kepa (GK), Azpilicueta, Sarr, Barkley, Saúl, Werner
Goals: Thiago Silva 28, Mount 44
Booked: Jorginho, Christensen.
Referee: Andre Marriner
First Team
West Ham United complete superb comeback to down Chelsea in memorable derby win
4th December 2021