The Blues suffered their first defeat post lockdown with Frank Lampard’s side losing 3-2 to West Ham United at the London Stadium. Despite taking the lead in the game, Chelsea FC fell prey to Andriy Yarmolenko’s 90th-minute winner for the hosts.
The Blues started the game well donning their brand-new kit featuring the telecommunications company ‘Three’ as their shirt sponsor. In-form Christian Pulisic was on fire in the opening 30 minutes of the game, with the young American finding space to run into and threatening the Hammers defense.
A strike from West Ham United’s Michail Antonio did not seem to trouble Blues goalkeeper Kepa, with the shot going wide off the goal. However, Chelsea FC’s defensive frailties were on the verge of being exposed on numerous occasions.
The visitors controlled a lion’s share of possession at the London Stadium, with the Blues having nearly 70% of the possession in the first half of the game. Despite this, the Blues looked certain to concede due to the shoddy display of play by the back-four of Chelsea FC.
A misjudgment by Marcos Alonso led to a scramble in the Chelsea FC penalty area before the Hammers’ Tomáš Souček slotted the ball past Kepa. However, the referee pointed towards the VAR citing an offside ruling. The VAR referee’s decision turned out to be in the favour of Frank Lampard’s side with Antonio having been judged to be in an offside position and blocking the view of the Blues goalkeeper.
Chelsea FC soon got their breakthrough in the game when a penalty was given with Issa Diop fouling Pulisic in the Hammers penalty area. Willian converted the spot-kick with ease and gave a lead to the visitors.
However, Frank Lampard’s hopes of a first-half lead against West Ham did not materialize when the hosts took advantage of Chelsea FC’s defensive frailties from a corner. Souček got his head on the ball and scored the equalizer for his side.
Matters got worse for the Blues when Antonio scored to give the lead to the Hammers six minutes into the second half. A couple of chances further fell West Ham United’s way in the following minutes with Argentine playmaker Manuel Lanzini firing the ball over the bar.
Chelsea FC too tried to switch their gears with the game nearing it’s last 30 minutes. Substitutes Olivier Giroud and Ruben Loftus-Cheek failed to get onto crosses and level the game for the visitors.
Willian, however, kept going at the Hammers defense and was soon given a perfect opportunity to level the game for Chelsea FC. With Pulisic being fouled at the end of a superb run by the West Ham defenders, Willian converted the resulting free-kick with great composure to make the score 2-2.
The Blues had few more chances to win the game, however, could not succeed in doing so. A chance fell Pulisic’s way but to no avail. Kepa made an important save at the other end to keep his side in the fray and at least earn a point on their travel to the London Stadium.
However, Ukrainian attacker Yarmolenko had other plans for Chelsea FC with the West Ham United player finding ample space to direct his shot towards the goal. Yarmolenko’s strike rifled into the bottom corner and earned the three points for the Hammers to complete a memorable Premier League double over their city rivals Chelsea FC.
MATCH STATS
SCORE: 3-2
Possession: West Ham United- 27% Chelsea FC- 73%
Yellow Cards: West Ham United – 2 Chelsea FC – 1
Shots: West Ham United – 8 Chelsea FC – 14
Offsides: West Ham United – 2 Chelsea FC – 2
