Chelsea 2-1 West Ham Utd

  • by Staff Writer
  • Tuesday, 4th February 2025

West Ham were looking good for a much welcome win at Stamford Bridge - before those oh-so-familiar defensive frailties were exposed once again.

Graham Potter may have given the fanbase much cause for optimism since arriving at the club last month, but one area his methods have failed to reap rewards in so far is perhaps the most important of all - preventing the opposition from scoring goals.


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Two against Villa in the Cup, two against Fulham; two more versus Palace and another to Villa, before today's double - it's a record upon which the new Head Coach will want to improve - and must do, quickly, in order to prevent the club getting sucked closer to an unlikely - yet potential - relegation battle.

Yet those two passages of play aside, which came ten minutes apart in the second half with West Ham looking comfortable, Potter's hacked together, barely-oiled machine, which was missing several key components such as Todibo, Alvarez, Summerville, Antonio, Fullkrug, Paqueta - and Ward-Prowse plus Ferguson too, now - still managed to work up enough steam to more than match a lacklustre Chelsea for more than an hour.

That they were in such a position was largely due to the awareness of the returning Jarrod Bowen, who produced a moment of magic as the game entered its 42nd minute. Pouncing on a poor back pass before striding forward and drilling a fantastic effort beyond Pensioners' 'keeper Jørgensen, it was as if he'd never been away.

While Madueke and Fernandez had drawn applause from the home sections of Stamford Bridge for efforts that had fizzed narrowly wide of Alphonse Areola's goal, the Hammers had managed to navigate the opening half with few scares - even though there had been a number of grumbles regarding some of referee Stuart Attwell's decisions.


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None of which were hugely controversial, or had led to game-changing moments; a clear shove on Soler that went unpunished, or a trip on Kudus that was recognised by order of a free kick - but not with the caution that it could arguably have deserved. Nothing to see here, perhaps.

Andy Irving joined the list of aggrieved shortly after the restart, when he was left incredulous at being penalised for being pushed over by Reece James. Some of Attwell's decisions were proving to be a source of frustration, occasionally bewildering - and, from West Ham's perspective, about to become very costly indeed.

With the game in its 64th minute, skipper Bowen raced towards a long clearance from defence before being unceremoniously dumped on his backside by a clean shove from the side by Colwell. To Bowen's amazement, Attwell waved play on; 24 seconds later, Chelsea were level.

Pedro Neto got the final touch - a lash from the edge of the six-yard box that escaped the flailing limbs of Areola - following a melee in the penalty box, promoted by a cross from Chelsea's right which was turned back into the centre. A lengthy VAR check ensured, decided a clearly offside Cucurella wasn't ('inconclusive', according to the VAR team) and that the foul on Bowen had occurred outside of the goalscoring phase of play.


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Chelsea's winner arrived ten minutes later, with West Ham's makeshift side showing signs of fatigue. The prolific Cole Palmer worked his way into United's penalty area and saw his attempted cross deflect via an outstretched Aaron Wan-Bissaka boot and loop over the head of a helpless Areola.

Although the Hammers pushed until the final of the seven added-on minutes - Kudus failing to make the most of a glorious chance with the seconds ticking down, as he saw a shot blocked right in front of Chelsea's goal - the task was to prove just a little too much for a side missing so many regulars.

Yes, before you say it - Chelsea were too. However they were also able to offload a player who cost them £46million six months ago on loan and a whole host of others during the closing hours of the transfer window - such is the current difference between the two clubs' financial positions.

The defeat leaves West Ham 15th in the Premier League, 10 points above the relegation zone and 13 points away from a potential European spot.




West Ham Utd: Areola, Wan-Bissaka, Coufal (Mavropanos 72), Kilman, Cresswell (Guilherme 87), Emerson (Scarles 71), Souček, Irving (Orford 77), Soler (Ings 77), Kudus, Bowen

Subs not used: Fabianski, Foderingham, Casey, Rodriguez

Goals: Bowen (42)

Booked: Irving

Chelsea: Jørgensen, James (Gusto 61), Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella, Caicedo, Fernández, Madueke (Nkunku 61), Palmer (Chalobah 90), Sancho (Neto 52), Jackson (Guiu 52)

Subs not used: Sanchez, George, Acheampong, Dewsbury-Hall

Goals: Neto (64), Wan-Bissaka (og 74)

Booked: James, Fernandez, Palmer

Possession: CFC 67%-33% WHUFC

Shots/on target: CFC 22/3-14/5 WHUFC

xG: CFC 1.39-1.19 WHUFC

Referee: Stuart Attwell

Attendance: 39,459

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