And with that, I’m done. Here’s the match report again. Bye!
David Moyes has a chat. He is grumpy about the refereeing - “I thought there were a bundle of things” - and of course the scoreline, but sees positives in the performance:
I didn’t think we deserved that, but we lost three goals so that is the correct score. I think we had chances as well, we had a lot of the ball. This was a really bit test for us and I thought for a long period we’d done quite well, apart from the opening 20 minutes.
[On conceding from a corner] They’re a threat, they’ve got some power. We knew about it, we tried to prepare correctly for it, but we got caught out early. We didn’t work their goalkeeper enough tonight but we’re playing a good team. I thought the players did very well on the ball, but ultimately the game is about scoring in their goal and keeping the ball out of our goal and we didn’t do that.
Jacob Steinberg was our man at Stamford Bridge:
The wait for a convincing display from Chelsea goes on. Their first win over a fellow top-half side this season owed more to grit than inspiration, even though two late goals from Tammy Abraham gave the final score a deceptive look, masking the fact that West Ham had forced the game to be played on their terms for long spells.
In the end resilience was enough to move Chelsea into fifth place but not to eradicate the doubts over their form, particularly in attack. With Thiago Silva imperious at the back, Frank Lampard’s side dealt with some uncomfortable moments. They battled for a clean sheet and produced quality when it mattered, leaving West Ham to regret some powderpuff finishing and a slow start.
Much more here:
Frank Lampard does some more very fast talking:
We stopped playing a little bit [in the second half]. I thought Kovacic coming on got us on the ball a lot better. West Ham can hurt you at any moment with a ball in the box or a set piece. It wasn’t vintage tonight, the best part was the character off the back of two defeats.
This season’s looking different to every other season, for lots of reasons. It’s hard for a club with expectations like we have. When you’re unbeaten a lot of things move swimmingly well, then all of a sudden you get a few challenges when you lose a few games. I have to be the one that drives it. When you come off it slightly, there’s no easy way back apart from a bit of graft.
[Being fifth] feels OK. I want more. We have to want more, to keep pushing. The higher we aim, the more level-headed we stay after good wins, the better.
He’s also asked about Thiago Silva’s performances:
I remember playing in the Premier League at 36 and I couldn’t play like he’s playing. I knew he was a top player, but the pressures of the Premier League when you’ve never played it ... he probably has exceeded my expectations slightly, but really I shouldn’t have been surprised. He’s really studious about the game as well, he clearly going to be a great manager or whoever he wants to be afterwards.
Tammy Abraham gives a post-match interview in which he never stops smiling.
Much more like it. The boys said before that we needed a performance today, and that’s what we’ve done. My job is to help the team as much as possible, it’s about getting in the right areas, and that’s what I did for my two goals. To beat West Ham 3-0 is a massive result. My job is just to get in the box, get in the right areas and be ready for when the ball lands, and that’s what I was today. They’re a great side, they’ve been great this year. We had to stay patient, but we defended well and the goals came after that. At the end of the day it’s all about the three points. We had to grind for this win today.
David Moyes has still never won a match at Stamford Bridge.
16 - David Moyes is without a win in any of his 16 Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge (D7 L9), the joint-highest tally of any manager never to win at a stadium in the competition, equalling his own record (16 games at Anfield). Unwelcome. pic.twitter.com/i32lLTlmsC
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 21, 2020
Edouard Mendy has now kept as many clean sheets for Chelsea as Kepa.
🔵 - Number of competitive clean sheets by @ChelseaFC goalkeepers under Frank Lampard
— Gracenote Live (@GracenoteLive) December 21, 2020
10 - Edouard Mendy (16 apps)
10 - Kepa Arrizabalaga (45 apps)
4 - Willy Caballero (16 apps)#CHEWHU
Final score: Chelsea 3-0 West Ham United
90+4 mins: It’s all over! Chelsea’s mini-slump is over, and they vault above Tottenham, Southampton and Manchester City to sit fifth!
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90+3 mins: One last chance for Chelsea to make a chance, but Havertz picks the wrong pass and Fabianski reaches it well before Abraham.
90+1 mins: There will be three minutes of stoppages.
90 mins: Ryan Fredericks comes on for Bowen.
89 mins: Werner hits the bar! Kante wins the ball on halfway, carries it forward and finds the perfect pass at the perfect time. Werner’s first touch forces him a bit wide, and the second lifts the ball past Fabianski, but into the woodwork!
87 mins: West Ham pass the ball about in defence for a while, a team that once hoped to win the game now just waiting for it to end.
84 mins: Kai Havertz comes on for Pulisic.
82 mins: And there goes the game. Abraham has been Chelsea’s best attacking player, full of deft flicks with head, chest and foot to bring teammates into play and knit moves together. His finishes were both pretty straightforward, but taken well.
GOAL! Chelsea 3-0 West Ham (Abraham, 80 mins)
And another one! A lovely cross from Mount finds Pulisic, and though his header hits Fabianski the ball rolls wide to Abraham, who sidefoots into the empty net!
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GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 West Ham (Abraham, 78 mins)
Werner has set up a second! He gets the ball on the left-hand corner of the area, cuts onto his right foot and tries a shot, which he completely miskicks straight into the path of Abraham, who sidefoots past Fabianski from eight yards!
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76 mins: Werner has been really poor today, in all areas of the game. He’s hit a couple of poor crosses, a couple of terrible shots, and failed in a few attempted dribbles. Now he runs into the penalty area, takes on Soufal and fails.
73 mins: Bowen’s cross from the right dips just over Azpilicueta, which seems to surprise Soucek, who lets the ball pretty much hit him in the face when he might have headed in. Chelsea have still not started playing in this half.
71 mins: Soufal’s clearance hits a blue shirt and deflects to Werner, but his first touch is poor, his shot is feeble, and he was anyway offside.
68 mins: West Ham keep the ball for an age, searching for an opening, and eventually Ogbonna just pumps it forward towards Haller, who knocks it down, and suddenly Chelsea are on the back foot. It’s worked wide to Cresswell, whose low cross finds Benrahma but his shot is weak, and deflected, and generally hopeless.
66 mins: Some substitutions! Mateo Kovacic replaces Jorginho for Chelsea, and Said Benrahma comes on for Pablo Pablo Fornals for West Ham.
63 mins: A cross from the right deflects off a defender to Fornals, whose half-volley looked likely to trouble Mendy, and perhaps to beat him, before a defender got a boot in the way.
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61 mins: We’ve got something of a Mozart v Salieri situation here, with one side clearly possessing more natural ability and genuine inspiration, and the other working hard to make themselves as effective as possible despite their limitations. At the moment neither is really making sweet music.
59 mins: Now West Ham win a free kick on the right, which Ogbonna, or perhaps Thiago Silva, heads wide. The Hammers are certainly looking the side more likely at the moment.
57 mins: Another West Ham corner. This one is cleared to Werner, who fails in an attempt to nudge the ball past Noble and thus plays his side back into trouble, though the visitors can’t convert possession into a chance.
54 mins: West Ham win a corner, at which Zouma backs into Azpilicueta, starts falling over, and on his way down is emphatically Hallered. He requires brief physio attention.
“I thought Werner took out Fabianski there, maybe not intentionally, but recklessly as he knew contact was coming and had his feet up,” writes Gary Naylor. “Had it happened in the centre circle, there would be at least a VAR review for a red card.” I don’t see that at all. Though he could probably have contorted himself to hit Fabianski with something more fleshy than his feet, there was no deliberate movement towards the player from Werner, and really hardly any contact.
50 mins: Another low cross flies just out of Werner’s reach. It’s Abraham’s ball, and Werner slides in, his body in the completely wrong shape to attack the ball even if he could reach it, and he keeps going straight into Fabianski.
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48 mins: Half a chance for West Ham, as Cresswell crosses from the left and Haller wins the header, but he gets no direction on it and the ball bounces well wide.
46 mins: Peeeeeep! West Ham have turned up, no changes have been made, and the second half is now happening.
The players are back out! Well, Chelsea’s players are. No sign of West Ham as of yet.
“I am in Germany and the Sky guys here said that it was not a poor shot from Werner, but a bad Pulisic pass,” writes Giancarlo Sandoval of that 43rd-minute chance. “Dunno, to me Werner doesn’t have the quality to finish, despite what the very non biased German commentators said about their compatriot.” The pass wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t terrible. An in-form striker puts his foot through it and finds a corner; Werner was tentative, and picked out the keeper.
Half time: Chelsea 1-0 West Ham
45+4 mins: Peeeep! The first half is over. It was a half a two halves, the first of which was only played by one team, the second by both. Or neither, if you want to be critical.
45+1 mins: There will be approximately three minutes of first-half stoppage time.
45 mins: Jorginho jumps to win a header, wins the header, and then gets completely Hallered as he comes back down to earth. He lands and goes to ground, unsure if he should be clutching his back, his front or his leg so just grabbing random bits of self.
43 mins: What a chance for Chelsea! Pulisic touches the ball past a committed Balbuena in the centre circle and runs towards the area, with Werner to his left and Abraham to his right. He finds the German, who takes a touch to control and then sends a really poor shot straight at Fabianski.
Updated
42 mins: A fine burst of speed from Rice, who hares past Azpilicueta on the left, but it doesn’t lead to anything except a mildly embarrassed Azpilicueta.
40 mins: 100% of the shots on target in this match have gone into the net.
38 mins: A good West Ham move ends with Coufal thumping a cross straight into touch.
Updated
36 mins: Kante passes to Mount in the centre circle, and there’s a first-time pass available to completely release Werner, but Mount doesn’t see it, and loses the ball instead.
33 mins: Kante passes to Pulisic, who tries to weave his way through the defence, fails, and frustratingly gets a rebound which is almost lucky but not quite, the ball bouncing into his path but running away and out of play.
32 mins: The visitors appear to have finally decided that the best thing to do with the ball is not in fact to give it straight back to the other lot.
30 mins: West Ham have the ball in the net again, but it won’t count any more than the first one. This time the referee decides that Bowen fouled Thiago Silva after the defender flings himself to the turf in full forward-dive Superman style.
Updated
27 mins: West Ham win a corner! And a really off-target thing which I suppose might classify as a shot if you absolutely insist, as Soucek sends the ball way high.
26 mins: Nearly a thing for West Ham! Azpilicueta lets the ball run under his foot and Cresswell is suddenly clear on the left, but his cross-shot runs across goal and out the other side.
Updated
23 mins: Chelsea have managed to increase their possession percentage, now up to 84%. West Ham are still yet to have a corner or shot, except for Rice’s offside one.
20 mins: Chelsea win and completely waste a corner, even though West Ham’s zonal marking system had left pretty much half their side unmarked in the penalty area. West Ham play the ball forward and Kante slips, allowing Haller to run clear on goal. Happily for Chelsea it turns out Haller can’t really run, and Zouma jogs back to tackle him.
17 mins: Chelsea pass the ball about for a bit, with Pulisic so wide on the right flank he is actually standing just off the pitch for most of the move. Eventually he comes infield to collect the ball, and Rice steamrollers through him to concede a free-kick.
16 mins: Now Chelsea have a goal disallowed, because the ball crossed the goalline before Azpilicueta crossed and Abraham eventually converted.
📊 At 36 years & 90 days, Thiago Silva is Chelsea's 2nd oldest scorer v West Ham in PL after Glenn Hoddle (36 years & 150 days) in March 1994 pic.twitter.com/OsPFwQJx1K
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) December 21, 2020
15 mins: Chelsea have had 72% of possession and 100% of shots and corners.
Ben Chilwell is the second player in PL history to be substituted off on his birthday having played less than 10 mins, after Paul Gerrard for Everton away at Southampton in January 2000
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) December 21, 2020
13 mins: Chance for a second! Jorginho plays a good ball through to Mount, who hits across goal but just too far in front of both Abraham and, by a matter of inches, Werner!
12 mins: This time Soucek heads emphatically clear.
12 mins: West Ham’s marking there was completely abysmal. The good news, though, is that they are going to get another chance to get it right, as Chelsea have just won another right-wing corner.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 West Ham (Thiago Silva, 10 mins)
Thiago Silva stands on the edge of the area as a corner is about to be taken. Then he runs into the area, nobody tracks him, and heads it in from six yards!
Updated
10 mins: Emerson has come on, and his first job is to prepare for a Chelsea corner.
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9 mins: Chilwell is back on the floor, and clearly his night is over. Emerson is tying his shoelaces.
7 mins: West Ham have the ball in the net, but it’s offside! Cresswell plays Rice through from a free-kick and he runs into the area, goes past Mendy and slides the ball in from an acute angle, but he was indeed a shade ahead of the defensive line as the ball was played.
Updated
6 mins: Chilwell returns to the pitch, a little gingerly.
5 mins: Chilwell is on the floor and apparently in genuine pain, after he accidentally tripped Bowen and then, as Bowen went over, the West Ham man accidentally kicked his ankle, knocking it into an awkward position.
2 mins: As Moyes predicted, Chelsea are enjoying a lot of possession. Jorginho has the night’s first shot, which hits the bit of stand separating the bottom tier from the top.
1 min: Peeeeeeep! Action!
Updated
The players are on the pitch! We are approximately 118 seconds away from action.
David Moyes is asked about Mark Noble, who starts for the first time since the opening day:
He’s been a bit unlucky not to have played before but the form of the team has been very good and he understands that. His personality on the pitch, it’ll be a tough game for us and I just feel his quality will help us tonight. Antonio’s getting closer, but not ready for the game.
And he’s asked about his team’s prospects tonight:
I think we have to play really well without the ball. Chelsea’s possession stats have been really high this season, we’re going to have to deal with that. We’re a better team this year. I think in all aspects. The early part of the season we certainly scored more goals, since then we’ve been doing much better at not conceding. We have to make sure we do both tonight to get a result.
Frank Lampard has a chat. He speaks annoyingly quickly, and way too fast for me to accurately transcribe everything, but this is the gist.
We’ve got to deal with [our recent form], because I think what we’ve found is that in the Premier League if you drop your intensity you lose points. So we lost two games. What our game has been about is energy and speed, as well as different qualities. We need to go back to that tonight.
We were unbeaten in a long time, we found a consistency that a lot of teams have struggled with this year, and we got a reality check. Some of the basics we dropped down on. 15% is enough to lose games, so I want a reaction.
They’re very well organised, David Moyes has done a very good job. We have to understand how they play. We just have to be worried about ourselves but be aware it’ll be a tough night.
Well this is very touching. It’s been about 10 months since I last saw a colleague, let along hugged one.
By my count Chelsea make three changes: in come Azpilicueta, Jorginho and Abraham, and out go James, Havertz, and Giroud. West Ham bring in Balbuena and Noble and leave out Diop and Benrahma.
The teams!
The team sheets have been handed in, and the names in the frame this evening are these ones:
Chelsea: Mendy, Azpilicueta, Zouma, Thiago Silva, Chilwell, Jorginho, Kante, Mount, Werner, Abraham, Pulisic. Subs: Arrizabalaga, Rudiger, Christensen, Kovacic, Giroud, Hudson-Odoi, Gilmour, Havertz, Emerson Palmieri.
West Ham: Fabianski, Coufal, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice, Soucek, Bowen, Noble, Fornals, Haller. Subs: Yarmolenko, Benrahma, Snodgrass, Dawson, Diop, Fredericks, Martin, Johnson, Randolph.
Referee: Chris Kavanagh.
Here's our 11 for #CHEWHU! 📝 pic.twitter.com/nEvzGE3YAE
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 21, 2020
📋 Team news from Stamford Bridge...
— West Ham United (@WestHam) December 21, 2020
Here's how we line up tonight for #CHEWHU! pic.twitter.com/EJmWYnDQ0s
Hello world!
After successive defeats in Merseyside and the Midlands this is the first of six successive London-based games for Chelsea, whose only away assignments between now and the trip to Leicester in a month’s time take them to Arsenal and Fulham. Their home form has been more than decent - a win here would take them to second in the home table, a draw to third, though Liverpool’s 100% home record makes everyone else look pretty feeble - and they have lost just one of their last 14 home games against West Ham, albeit that it was their last one, which the Hammers won 1-0 last November with an emotional David Martin keeping a clean sheet on his debut for the club, aged 33. West Ham have won their last two away games, both in Yorkshire, and really shouldn’t be troubled by feelings of inferiority against a side that sits only one point and two places above them at kick-off. Chelsea would go fifth if they win tonight, and West Ham could go sixth (though they’re likely to have to win by two or more goals to do so).
This is what Stamford Bridge looks like this evening. Ruddy magnificent, basically. You should see my lawn at the moment: an absolute embarrassment. More of a swamp, really. If you happen to be Chelsea’s groundsman, and you’re going to be in Finchley any time soon, do drop me a line.
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