West Ham United 3-2 Chelsea
West Ham picked up a vital three points tonight in a five-goal thriller against Chelsea as substitute Andriy Yarmolenko fired home the winner in the 90th minute.
The win takes the Hammers three points clear of the bottom three in the Premier League relegation battle, but it was a blow to Chelsea’s Champions League hopes.
There was VAR controversy in a dramatic end to the first half when West Ham had a goal chalked off before Chelsea went ahead with a penalty and the Hammers battled back with a goal seconds before the half-time break. And in a ding-dong second half, the Hammers ran out winners thanks to Yarmolenko’s last-gasp strike.
After a significant set of Premier League 2020 results today, David Moyes’ team has been the big winner, and while there is a feel-good factor around Stamford Bridge at the moment, Chelsea will need it to come back after this hammer blow.
Highlights of the game
The hosts started brightly and had the first sight of goal. Pablo Fornals pressed well as the ball broke for Michail Antonio, who burst past Antonio Rudiger but screwed his shot wide when he should have tested Kepa.
Christian Pulisic had Chelsea’s best chance of the opening 20 minutes when Cesar Azpilicueta fed Tammy Abraham, who pulled the ball back to the American, but Pulisic curled his shot wide of the angle with the goal at his mercy.
Pulisic bagged the opener in the Blues’ win over Manchester City last week and he expected to bury this one too by his reaction.
The Hammers had to start without skipper Mark Noble, who’s back tightened up in training and so the captain’s armband was given to Declan Rice.
The team backed him up with a hard-working first-half performance, which he thought had reaped rewards on 34 minutes when Tomas Soucek met a flick-on from a corner and bundled the ball home.
But VAR halted the celebrations, and after an agonising wait of over three minutes, the goal was ruled out as Antonio, who was lying on the floor, was marginally offside. Was the striker interfering with play? Well, Kepa certainly thought so and he breathed a sigh of relief.
To add insult to injury, Chelsea were awarded a penalty two minutes later when Pulisic turned Issa Diop just inside the area, and the big defender stuck out a leg to catch the Blues’ young star. It was a switch of pace too swift for the Hammers player and Willian took advantage, sweeping the spot-kick calmly into the top left corner.
West Ham must have thought the whole world was against them, but there was some justice when they drew level on the stroke of half-time. Another corner, and this time Soucek headed the ball home and VAR stayed out of it!
It was a brave fight-back, and that seemed to give the Hammers belief as they started the second half as they ended the first. And they were deservedly ahead on 51 minutes.
It was an excellent passing move and when Fornals kept the ball alive and fed Jarrod Bowen on the right wing, his low cross was met by Antonio, who fired past Kepa and into the net.
Lampard rang in the changes and brought on Olivier Giroud and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, both of whom came close to scoring as Chelsea laid siege to the Hammers goal. And when Chelsea levelled at 2-2, it was thanks to two moments of brilliance.
First, Pulisic — the best player on the pitch — drew a foul from Declan Rice after an electrifying run. And Willian again was the beneficiary, curling a beauty of a free-kick in off the upright.
The Hammers remained a threat on the break and Antonio almost broke through to score, but Kepa blocked his attempt. But there was nothing the Chelsea stopper could do when Yarmolenko sprung the offside trap before cutting inside Rudiger and firing home the winner.
Key statistics
With SBOBET odds of 1.59 for Chelsea to win and the Hammers out at 5.22, this was the shock of the night. The Blues had 70 per cent of the ball and won the shot count by 17 to 10, and six to three on target, but there’s only one stat that matters…3-2 to West Ham!
It’s only a second win in seven for the Hammers but it could be priceless.
What’s next?
Leicester City’s defeat to Everton this evening opened up the race for the Champions League and Chelsea will be kicking themselves after failing to take advantage.
Next up, the Blues face another struggling side, Watford, on Saturday before meeting Crystal Palace next Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Hammers have games against Newcastle United and Burnley over the next seven days and neither will be easy. The Magpies hammered Bournemouth 4-1 today, while back-to-back wins have put the Clarets in contention for a Europa League place.
But all five other teams in the relegation scrap have lost their last game and so West Ham are now the form team in that battle!
And the latest Premier League 2020 betting odds have the bottom three, Norwich City, Bournemouth and Aston Villa all odds on to take the drop.
It’s been a great night for the Hammers.
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