West Ham's miserable away record continued today with this defeat at the hands of Ruud Gullit's Chelsea.
The South West Londoners, fresh from a seven goal thrashing of Norweigan part-timers Tromso scored both goals after the break, following an even first 45 minutes. Italian star Gianfranco Zola was instrumental in both strikes, making the first (which Rio Ferdinand eventually helped into his own net), and scoring the second with a spectacular free kick from the edge of the area.West Ham gave themselves brief hope in the 86th minute when new signing Samassi Abou earned a penalty after he was brought down by Franc Lebouf on the edge of the area; John Hartson duly converted the spot kick but it was a case of too little too late.
The Hammers did have plenty of chances though; the best falling to captain Steve Lomas midway through the first half who (again) failed to convert when faced with only the goalkeeper to beat.
The biggest talking point of the game from a West Ham viewpoint came towards the end of the first half when Israeli star Eyal Berkovic appeared to strike fellow midfielder John Moncur following an argument between the two. Both were spoken to by the referee following the fracas, although no further discipline was forthcoming.
Hammers: Forrest, Impey, Unsworth (Potts), Pierce, Ferdinand, Rowland, Lampard, Moncur (Abou), Berkovic, Lomas, Hartson.
Subs not used: Miklosko, Bishop, Dowie.
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