Ben Chilwell produced a fine performance after coming off the bench as a second half substitute to help Chelsea down London rivals West Ham in Week 6. The former Leicester left back was introduced in the 70th minute with the Blues trailing 1-0, and first scored a goal that any striker would’ve been proud of, and then set up Kai Havertz for the winner to help the home side claim three priceless points.
While the game came too soon for new signings Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Denis Zakaria, Thomas Tuchel chose to give a debut to Wesley Fofana, with the French defender, another acquisition from Leicester, slotting into a back three alongside Thiago Silva and Kalidou Koulibaly. Christian Pulisic & Conor Gallagher were also given starts, with Mason Mount and Kai Havertz on the bench.
West Ham started with four at the back, with Emerson Palmieri coming in as a straight swap for the injured Aaron Cresswell. Lucas Paqueta was impressive in his debut against Tottenham, and was given a starting role here, with Said Benrahma dropping to the bench to accommodate the Brazilian.
The first half was all Chelsea, with West Ham producing very little of note going forward. The Blues didn’t trouble Lukasz Fabianski either, but dominated most other stats, having 70% of the ball and a whopping eight corners in the first half itself.
West Ham were a different team after the interval and only earned their first corner on the hour mark. That sequence of play resulted in three corners in a row for the visitors, and on the last one, they struck, with Edouard Mendy’s shakiness in goal gifting Michail Antonio a poke in from point blank range after Declan Rice had nodded it onto the striker’s path.
Tuchel rang in the subs, first sending on Mount and Armando Broja, and then Chilwell and Havertz ten minutes later. Chilwell brought them level on 76th minute with an excellent goal- a delightfully controlled header from Thiago Silva’s pass to take the ball away from Kehrer and Coufal, and then a superb finish through the legs of Fabianski from an incredibly tight angle.
Chelsea’s second also owed a fair bit to Chilwell, who showed great awareness to bring himself back onside and then supplied a cross into the box that was well finished by Kai Havertz. The Blues’ spending in the transfer window means Tuchel has plenty of options off the bench to turn things around, and the experts at FlashPicks expect them to also see off Zagreb away from home in their midweek European clash.
The FP folks also reckon that Zagreb will score in the game- a pretty decent assumption to make given how shaky Chelsea’s defence has been in recent fixtures. Bar the season opener against Everton, the Blues have conceded in every game so far this season and also needed a moment of luck from VAR intervention to secure points against the Hammers.
FT stats Chelsea v West Ham
Reece James’ poorly controlled header into the path of Mendy gave Jarrod Bowen an opportunity to pounce. However the winger slipped and Mendy got to the ball first, but punched at it weakly, and it fell to Maxwell Cornet, who smashed home. Cornet, who had also hit the post with a fine header minutes before, thought he had the equaliser, but VAR decided that Bowen had fouled Mendy (who also made a meal of the contact), and disallowed the goal, much to the anger of Hammers boss Moyes.
After the game, most referees agreed that VAR had been erroneous and the West Ham goal should’ve stood. Fortunately for Chelsea fans, it didn’t, and they’re only five points behind the leaders after a shaky start to the campaign, with Arsenal and City both dropping points.
