West Ham Utd 3-1 Chelsea

  • by Staff Writer
  • Saturday, 1st December 2012

West Ham produced a vintage display at the Boleyn Ground this afternoon to finally lay their Chelsea hoodoo to rest.

Prior to today, it had been an incredible 10 years since West Ham last beat the west London club. But that statistic is no more as Sam Allardyce's side produced a fantastic second half display to condemn the reigning European champions to a comprehensive 3-1 defeat.

West Ham - who also had another effort harshly ruled out and forced several more excellent saves from Chelsea number one Petr Cech - were simply fantastic in the second period in what was a classic case of 'a game of two halves'.

The visitors - who led 1-0 at the break - were well worth their half time lead and the Irons had 'keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen to thank for restricting the deficit to a single goal with one particularly superb save moments ahead of the interval.

However it was a different West Ham team that emerged from the changing rooms for the second half - and one that systematically set about dismantling the opposition threat before finding the back of the net on three occasions.

GOAL! - A rejuvenated Carlton Cole pulled West Ham level with 63 minutes on the clock

GOAL! - Half-time substitute Mo Diame put West Ham ahead with four minutes of normal time remaining

GOAL! - Fellow sub Modibo Maiga thrashed the ball home from close range in the first minute of added-on time

Chelsea, whose temporary manager Rafa Benitez is yet to taste success since replacing Roberto Di Matteo had got off to the perfect start when Juan Mata gave them a 13th minute lead after some clever interplay on the right-hand side.

A ball played behind Joey O'Brien, standing in for the injured George McCartney at left back was pulled back from the byeline by Fernando Torres and Mata was on hand to pass the ball into the far corner of Jaaskelainen's net.

West Ham should have found themselves on level terms ten minutes ahead of the break when Kevin Nolan prodded the ball over the line after James Collins had nodded on a Mark Noble free kick. However the goal failed to stand as referee Martin Atkinson saw an infringement by Collins that, quite frankly, didn't exist.

Atkinson then further enraged the home crowd by only displaying a yellow card when Cech handled outside the area, with Matt Jarvis favourite to (legally) reach the ball first. Not for the first time on the day, the Boleyn resounded to a chant of "we want Mark Clattenburg".

As it was, the Hammers were grateful to their Finnish goalkeeper for keeping them in the game as moments prior to Cech's booking, Jaaskelainen produced a wonderful stop from point-blank range to deny Mata a second goal; Joey O'Brien, who had been given the run-around in the first half by Victor Moses on hand to block the rebound.

But still the Hammers could have grabbed what would have been a somewhat fortuitous equaliser ahead of the break when James Collins' free kick looped up in the air and Kevin Nolan nodded towards the far corner; Cech was at full stretch to tip the ball over the bar.

Sam Allardyce, never shy to make changes if deemed necessary responded to the events of the opening 45 minutes by hauling off James Tomkins and Gary O'Neil for Mo Diame and Matt Taylor. It was an inspired double change and the key event in changing the direction of the game.

With the added drive of Diame and extra width granted by Taylor, West Ham were suddenly a force to be reckoned with. The opening 20 minutes of the half was all West Ham as they continued to push Chelsea back - however with United failing to get back on level terms, one felt that West Ham had missed their opportunity.

That was until the much-maligned Carlton Cole rose majestically to climb above Ivanovic and head home Matt Jarvis' deflected cross with 63 minutes on the clock.

Jarvis, who was beginning to show the kind of form that persuaded Sam Allardyce to part with in excess of £10million for his services was key in West Ham's revival as was his delivery to Cole, who was only back in the team due to a ligament injury to Andy Carroll.

Chelsea responded immediately by breaking forward and Mata's free kick smashed against Jaaskelainen's near post. It was a huge let-off for West Ham, who hit back by breaking down the field and forcing two consecutive corners.

The game continued in a tit-for-tat vein for the next 20 minutes and it looked at that stage as if both teams would be forced to settle for a share of the spoils - although Winston Reid was inches away from breaking the deadlock when his header from a Matt Taylor corner was hacked off the line by Ashley Cole with seven minutes of normal time remaining.

That was until Mo Diame, who was instrumental in everything West Ham had contributed in an attacking sense during the second half followed Cole into the Chelsea penalty area. A deep ball into the striker was chested back into the path of the Senegalese midfielder who smashed the ball beyond Cech to send 33,000 Eastenders into ecstasy.

Stunned, Chelsea tried to hit back but the wind was well and truly taken from their sails. Although the announcement of five minutes of added-on time was almost universally met by disapproval from the stands United were not in any mood to lose the lead they had worked so hard to fashion.

And so it was, with the first of those five extra minutes played, that Modibo Maiga, on as a replacement for sponsor's man of the match Carlton Cole picked up a loose pass 40 yards from goal. His pass found an overlapping Taylor whose shot was palmed away by Cech - straight into the path of Maiga who slammed the ball into an empty net.

Cue delirium in the stands; game well and truly over.

That was it as far as Chelsea were concerned and the final whistle was greeted with rapturous applause from all corners of the ground. West Ham had produced one of the finest 45 minutes of football seen at the Boleyn in recent years, Chelsea were well beaten - and they knew it - and Rafa Benitez was left to face a tricky press conference having been mocked throughout the game by his own fans, still smarting at the dismissal of former incumbent Di Matteo.

The win temporarily took West Ham back into seventh spot although Swansea's surprise 2-0 win at Arsenal later in the day saw United drop back to eighth in the table. Sam Allardyce's side can now look forward to upsetting Benitez's former club Liverpool when they come to the Boleyn next weekend.

And given the Irons' current home form, who would bet against them doing just that?

* View extended match highlights of West Ham's stunning defeat of Chelsea here.

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