Report: Late drama as Hammers STUN wasteful Blues!

Chelsea missed the chance to go third on the Premier League standings after late drama saw them stunned 3-2 by relegation-threatened West Ham United in the London Derby at the London Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Read: West Ham United vs Chelsea – team news, match facts and probable lineups

David Moyes opted for two changes, with Manuel Lanzini and Angelo Ogbonna replacing captain Mark Noble and Fabian Balbuena respectively.

Frank Lampard on the other hand made just one change, surprisingly dropping Olivier Giroud to the bench and starting upfront with Tammy Abraham.

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Declan Rice and Christian Pulisic challenging for the ball. (Image: Chelsea Twitter)

First half

Spotting their new home kit for the upcoming campaign, Chelsea started the match in high tempo and had half a chance at goal as early as the third minute when Marcos Alonso attempted an audacious over-head kick from Willian’s corner kick, but Lukas Fabianski pulled off an easy save.

The Hammers really struggled to retain possession and were beaten for pace again as Willian charged down on the far right right before whipping in a cross, but Fabianski again made a save.

In the 10th minute, the Blues came close to breaking the deadlock when after West Ham failed to clear the ball, Willian unleashed a powerful shot from inside the 18-yard box, but the Hammers had Fabianski to thank again for keeping the scores at 0-0 by making a superb save.

The home side missed a glorious chance to take the lead two minutes later when Mikael Antonio pulled clear off Chelsea defenders, bursts into the box but as soon as he came one on one with Arrizabalaga Kepa, he dragged his shot across the face of goal and well wide of the left-hand post.

It was all Chelsea during this period and after overturning possession, Ross Barkley tried to whip one into the bottom left from distance, but Fabianski was equally up to the task, pulling off an easy save.

Christian Pulisic came the closest to breaking the deadlock in the 20th minute after Cezar Azpilicueta played a beautiful pass into the box, Tammy Abraham sold the Hammers defence a dummy, but the American fired his shot just inches over the crossbar with Fabianski well beaten.

In the 33rd minute it was the Hammers who took the lead through Tomas Soucek after a goalmouth scramble, but their celebrations were short-lived when VAR overruled the scoreline, adjudging Antonio for brushing the ball when attempting his overhead, with the top of his head being offside.

Five minutes before the interval, the Blues were awarded a penalty after Diop brought down Pulisic inside the 18-yard area. Willian stepped up and converted his spot-kick, sending Fabianski the wrong way to give Chelsea a 1-0 lead.

In added time before the players headed down the tunnel, the hosts deservedly pulled matters level when Antonio won a corner down the right. Bowen whipped it long into the box but Kepa made a mess of it before Soucek rose highest at the far post to header it down and past Antonio Rudiger, who attempted a clearance but missed it altogether.

Second half

The start to the second period was a different ball-game altogether as Moyes’ charges pulled up gear before taking the lead for the first time in the match in the 51st minute. Bowen fired low and hard into the centre from the far right before Antonio rushed behind the Blues defence to slam home from close range!

A few minutes later it was almost 3-1 to the hosts after they charged on the counter, before Bowen – who had been absolutely superb all evening, squared it for Lanzini, with acres of space, but he could only send it high and wide.

Lampard then rang two changes with just over 25 minutes left in the match, bringing on Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Olivier Giroud for Barkley and Abraham.

Despite dominating possession for most pasts of the second half, West Ham were suddenly under siege, with Giroud, Pulisic and Alonso combining well but the home side did well with a last-ditch clearance to preserve their lead.

It wasn’t long before Chelsea made it 2-2 in the 72nd minute when they were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box. Willian again stepped up to fire his shot against the inside of the post and in.

Pulisic came close to making it 3-2 moments later after charging towards the Hammers defence, but his attempted low shot missed the target.

With 10 minutes left to play, Antonio was close to grabbing his brace of the night after pulling clear of the Chelsea defence but Kepa did well enough to put him off before the ball came off the latter and out for a goal kick.

In the 89th minute, it was game, set and match when Chelsea piled forward, but exposed themselves as they lost possession. West Ham sprang on the counter, and Antonio after controlling a beautiful pass with his chest, played it through down the right for Yarmolenko, who wrong-footed Rudiger before cutting infield and battering a low shot past Kepa, and into the bottom left for a deserved 3-2 victory.

Moyes’ charges held on in the end to claim their first league double over Chelsea since the 2002/03 season, and move into 16th spot.

Starting XI:

West Ham: Fabianski, Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice, Soucek, Bowen, Lanzini, Fornals, Antonio.

Subs: Randolph, Balbuena, Yarmolenko, Felipe Anderson, Wilshere, Ajeti, Costa Silva, Lewis, Johnson.

Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta (c), Christensen, Rüdiger, Alonso, Barkley, Kanté, Kovacic, Willian, Abraham, Pulisic.

Subs: Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Caballero, Zouma, Giroud, Mount, Hudson-Odoi, James, Gilmour.