Talk to Frank
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Jacob Steinberg was our man at the London Stadium. His verdict has landed. Enjoy, enjoy ... and thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!
Frank Lampard is categorically not happy. “It’s not the story of our season, because it’s been a good season, but there have been many of these moments. Three good results, an opportunity to go third. You can dominate possession but if there are moments when you switch off, if you make two or three errors, you’re going to encourage teams on. I’m aware of it. But the players have to show an extra mentality to see the game through. We can feel a game like this coming. It shows the work we have to do. We have to defend better. We’re upset because we want to win the game. There’s no point me being down, but I’m telling the truth and we should win here today.”
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David Moyes isn’t quite as chirpy, having a thing or two to say about the old video ref. “We were up against it at 2-2. But we stuck at it and got a result. The VAR stuff, I’m beginning to lose complete faith with it. I don’t want to whinge about decisions, I’m trying not to, but that’s what I am doing again. I’ve not seen it again, but everybody tells me the goal should have stood.” Sky then commend West Ham for not feeling sorry for themselves after the VAR decision. “Well I did! I was spewing. I was thinking: are we ever going to get a decision here? The things that have gone against West Ham recently have been really poor, and I can’t explain it. The players deserve a massive amount of credit for sticking to it.”
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Michail Antonio, Sky’s very happy man of the match, has been talking. “It’s massive. There’s been so many games when we’ve been so close, and today shows the grit and belief we’ve got. We’re going to keep fighting to the end. I really dislike VAR! Ha ha ha! So many things haven’t gone our way, it’s gone against us so many times, but today it didn’t stop us. We just kept going and got the victory. It gives us confidence and belief. Not the fact that we won, but that we went down, and had a goal taken away from us. Chelsea’s a quality team, and if we can do it against them, we can do it against anybody.” Then there’s a magnificent moment when the reasons for the VAR decision are explained to him - that he was in the line of the goalkeeper’s sight and his head was offside - and he pulls, with exquisite comic timing, a look of amused incredulity. A genuinely funny reaction.
That was a magnificent game of football. West Ham thoroughly deserved their victory. They could easily have crumbled after the contentious decision by VAR to rule out an opening goal, the concession of a penalty coming along in short order. But they fought hard and - with no little skill, albeit some help from Chelsea’s unreliable defence - dragged themselves back into the game. Andriy Yarmolenko’s fine late winner could prove priceless. West Ham rise to 16th place (30pts), three points clear of the relegation zone, two clear of Watford in 17th. At the other end of the table, Chelsea remain in fourth (54pts), but they’re only two ahead of Manchester United and Wolves now. Arsenal and Tottenham won’t have chucked the towel in quite yet, either. The run-in is going to be fun.
As for Chelsea, they pass up an opportunity to gain ground on third-placed Leicester City, giving the chasing Champions League pack hope. “This could be David Moyes’ best managerial result for Manchester United,” quips Peter Oh, because somebody had to get there first.
FULL TIME: West Ham United 3-2 Chelsea
It’s a huge three points for West Ham in their battle against relegation, and they celebrate accordingly!
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90 min +3: Kante drags a tame shot wide left from 25 yards. The jig looks up for Chelsea. They’ve played well enough, but West Ham have been better.
90 min +2: Fornals is replaced by Balbuena. Textbook clock management.
90 min +1: The first of them drifts by without incident.
90 min: West Ham United are four added minutes away from a precious victory.
GOAL! West Ham United 3-2 Chelsea (Yarmolenko 89)
This could be a huge goal at both ends of the table! Chelsea pile forward, but lose possession. West Ham spring on the counter. Antonio creams a pass down the right for Yarmolenko, who only has Rudiger in between him and the penalty box. Rudiger sells himself, allowing Yarmolenko to cut infield and batter a low shot past Kepa and into the bottom left! What a finish! What drama here!
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88 min: As things stand, West Ham will move above Watford into 16th place on goal difference. They’d be a point ahead of Bournemouth and Aston Villa. Chelsea will stay in fourth, behind Leicester on goal difference.
87 min: Azpilicueta crosses deep from the right, forcing Yarmolenko to head behind for a corner. Alonso meets the set piece, but heads harmlessly wide.
86 min: Alonso crosses again. It’s just a bit too high for Azpilicueta at the far post, and Cresswell is able to shepherd the ball away from danger. West Ham are hanging on a bit here, so close yet so far away from a precious point.
85 min: Alonso swings a low cross in from the left. Giroud attempts to sweep home from the edge of the six-yard box but gets it all wrong.
84 min: Yarmolenko strides down the right with Chelsea light at the back and Antonio in space down the middle. But his cross is too close to Rudiger and the chance of setting his team-mate clear is spurned.
82 min: Willian is booked for a cynical tug on Cresswell, who was in the business of breaking upfield.
81 min: Wilshere forces the ball down the inside-right channel and into the Chelsea box. Antonio hares after it and goes over Kepa, the ball ballooning away from danger. Antonio wants a penalty, but he’s not getting one.
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80 min: Willian drives at the West Ham defence down the right. He slips Azpilicueta away. Azpilicueta crosses; the ball misses Giroud’s head by an inch.
79 min: Yarmolenko is immediately in the thick of it, combining well with Fredericks down the right. The latter loops a cross towards Cresswell, who is penalised for climbing all over someone in the hope of winning a header.
78 min: Yarmolenko replaces Bowen.
77 min: West Ham can’t handle Pulisic, who looks dangerous every time he picks up a head of steam. He wins a corner with another run down the left. Fabianski half-clears it with a punch, then Pulisic attempts a spectacular bicycle kick from 20 yards. Nope! But full marks for ambition.
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75 min: No team has scored more than two goals in this fixture since 2013, when a certain Frank Lampard notched a couple in a 3-0 Chelsea win at Upton Park. Will someone put that not-particularly-significant run to bed tonight?
73 min: That had been coming, drinks break notwithstanding. West Ham have been all over the show since Chelsea made that double sub. Pulisic dances in from the left and whistles a low shot inches wide of the left-hand post. Fabianski wasn’t getting to that.
GOAL! West Ham United 2-2 Chelsea (Willian 72)
Willian whips the free kick towards the top right. The ball caroms off the post and in, leaving Fabianski, at full stretch, no chance! That’s a brilliant free kick, though the keeper’s starting position wasn’t great.
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71 min: That break came at a good time for West Ham, who were being put under serious pressure. But it’s not long before they’re backpedalling furiously again, as Pulisic dribbles with purpose, cutting in from the left. Rice, haring in from the other flank, unceremoniously hacks him down before he reaches the box. A booking for West Ham’s stand-in captain, and a free kick in a very dangerous position, just to the left of the D.
69 min: And that’s drinks!
68 min: Lanzini is quickly hooked by West Ham. Another referee might have showed him red for an out-of-control scissor lunge, but he probably got back down to earth in time. Wilshere comes on in his stead.
66 min: Lanzini is booked for a carless lunge on Azpilicueta. From the resulting free kick, taken by Mount out on the right. Giroud tries to guide a header into the top left, but it’s easy pickings for Fabianski.
65 min: West Ham are suddenly under siege, Giroud nearly getting his eyebrows on a Pulisic dink, Alonso nearly teeing up Loftus-Cheek with a looping cross. A couple of last-ditch clearances preserve West Ham’s lead.
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64 min: Willian reaches a ball he had no real right in reaching, sprinting manically down the right. He whips an outstanding first-time cross towards Loftus-Cheek, racing in at the near post. Meaningful contact is missed by a couple of millimetres. West Ham escape.
63 min: A double change for Chelsea, as Barkley and Abraham are replaced by Loftus-Cheek and Giroud.
62 min: Barkley slips a pass down the inside-left channel for Mount, who smoothly wriggles past a couple of challenges before ... passing to nobody in particular in the West Ham box. The hosts clear.
60 min: Barkley tees up Christensen, in a pocket of space, centrally, 25 yards out. The defender doesn’t have the confidence to shoot, and the chance is gone. The attack soon peters out.
58 min: Rice crunches into Pulisic, a lovely tackle that sets West Ham away on the counter. Fornals and Bowen combine at speed, then the ball’s sent to Lanzini, in a lot of space just to the left of the D. He shapes a shot towards the top right, but it’s always heading high and wide. A tame end to a fine move.
56 min: Christensen tries to release Abraham down the right but the flag goes up for offside. West Ham hearts were in mouths for a second, because the striker would have beaten Fabianski to the ball on the edge of their box.
55 min: Willian cranks up a gear and bustles down the right. He thinks he’s earned a corner but it’s only a throw, and soon Chelsea are heading back the other way. Nothing quite coming off for them since the break.
53 min: That’s no more than West Ham deserve. They’ve been excellent so far this evening. On this evidence, you have to wonder why they’re in relegation bother. Anyway, now it’s Frank Lampard’s turn to shake his head performatively. He hooks Kovacic and sends on Mount.
GOAL! West Ham United 2-1 Chelsea (Antonio 51)
Rice curls in from the left. Antonio, his back to goal, thinks he’s been pulled down by Rudiger, but he’s not getting the penalty. No worries! Fornals picks up the loose ball and slides in Bowen on the right. Bowen fires low and hard into the centre, and Antonio, having picked himself up and dusted himself down, slams home from close range!
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50 min: Cresswell nearly sends Antonio clear down the left with a cute lay-off, but the super-quick striker clanks the ball out of play with his first touch. He tilts his head back in annoyance, knowing a chance to put some more pressure on the Chelsea defence is gone. Meanwhile here’s Preach On II, courtesy of the righteous Digvijay Yadav: “One thing that grates is the constant insinuation in some quarters that anyone who’s not in thrall to data, or decidedly cold towards VAR, is a Neanderthal. I mean VAR sucks, frankly, and should be chucked.”
48 min: Lanzini is caught dozing on the ball and Chelsea are allowed to tear clear. Willian zips down the right and curls long and low for Abraham, who can’t quite connect at the far post under pressure from Diop. “How can Chelsea be so inept at dealing with set pieces? Even the most benign of free kicks makes my heart skip a beat. This can’t go on. I’m not trying to be all doom and gloom, but for the love of God.” Benjamin Park, there, raging beside Benjamin Park.
46 min: Within ten seconds of the restart, Antonio is making a nuisance of himself just inside the Chelsea box. He forces a throw, after which a brief game of head tennis breaks out in the area. Chelsea eventually clear their lines.
It’s the second half! West Ham get the ball rolling again. No half-time changes. “Villa fan here. I’d take that goal being given and the inevitable relegation to dispense with VAR.” Preach on, David Bertram.
Half-time reading.
HALF TIME: West Ham United 1-1 Chelsea
That’ll improve the mood in the West Ham changing room. David Moyes fair bounds down the tunnel. An equaliser was no more than West Ham deserved. Were it not for an overly fussy VAR decision, they’d be leading. It’s going to be a fun second half.
GOAL! West Ham United 1-1 Chelsea (Soucek 45+3)
Antonio wins a corner down the right. Bowen hits it long. Kepa runs into Kante in the slapstick style. Soucek rises highest at the far post and heads down. Rudiger tries to hack off the line, but misses altogether. The hosts are deservedly level!
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45 min +1: Antonio and Rice are given a good talking-to by the referee. Neither are happy with the VAR decision, and they’re making their point with great passion.
45 min: It’s all Chelsea, and a reeling West Ham could do with hearing the half-time whistle. They need some time to regroup. Three extra minutes to go.
44 min: That chain of events has really taken the wind out of the West Ham sail. The disallowed goal ... well, you can argue that one either way, though a three-and-a-half-minute check suggests there was no clear and obvious error. But the penalty award was as clear as day.
GOAL! West Ham United 0-1 Chelsea (Willian 42 pen)
Willian sends Fabianski to the right, then whips the spot kick to the left. Easy as that. On the touchline, David Moyes shakes his head in theatrical anger.
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Penalty to Chelsea!
40 min: Insult To Injury dept. Pulisic comes in from the left, and drops a shoulder to go past Diop. The defender hangs out a leg, and that’s a no-brainer of a decision. The referee points to the spot.
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NO GOAL! West Ham United 0-0 Chelsea
38 min: After a wait of three-and-a-half minutes, VAR squints and spots that the top of Antonio’s head was offside when Soucek forced home, and judges that he was interfering with play. It certainly wasn’t a clear-cut state of affairs - Kepa’s line of sight didn’t appear to be compromised - and David Moyes is fuming.
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36 min: VAR is checking this for an offside. It’d be against the prone Antonio, if it’s disallowed.
GOAL! West Ham United 1-0 Chelsea (Soucek 34)
Bowen’s corner is accidentally flicked on at the near post by Kovacic. The ball falls at the feet of Soucek, one of the players Azpilicueta was just rowing with, at the far post. He needs two attempts to force the ball past Antonio, who had tried an unsuccessful acrobatic overhead kick and was lying on the floor, and a grappling Azpilicueta. It’s untidy, but it’s in!
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33 min: West Ham win their first corner of the evening out on the right. Before it can be taken, there’s a ludicrous episode as an irate Azpilicueta tries to barge his way between two extremely close West Ham players in the six-yard box. The ref gives him what for. And then ...
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32 min: Alonso sticks his studs on the back of Bowen’s leg. That didn’t look totally accidental; it was a movement he certainly didn’t need to make, put it that way. He should probably go in the book, at least, but neither referee nor VAR show any interest. Just a garden-variety free kick in the centre of the park.
30 min: Barkley tries a curler from the left-hand edge of the West Ham D, but Diop quickly closes him down and blocks.
29 min: Kovacic bursts down the middle and slides a pass towards Abraham, who threatens to break clear along the inside-left channel, but miscontrols and runs the ball out for a goal kick. Chelsea continue to look the more likely, though it’s West Ham who have had the best chance so far.
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27 min: Barkley, mooching his way slowly down the right, is upended by Rice. A free kick. Willian hoicks it into the box but West Ham clear. Alonso curls it in again from the left, but the hosts clear that too.
26 min: We go again.
24 min: And that’s drinks. Sup up, everyone!
22 min: Chelsea continue to stroke it around a lot. Their front three of Pulisic, Abraham and Willian look extremely lively tonight.
20 min: Azpilicueta rolls a diagonal pass inside from the right. Abraham dummies on the edge of the box. Pulisic, racing in from the left, goes for the top right with a first-time curler. He connects sweetly, but the ball flies inches wide. Pulisic holds his head in his hands and gasps. That was breathtakingly close.
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19 min: Antonio tries to burn Christensen for pace down the left but the defender holds firm. That could develop into a good battle. Chelsea go up the other end, Barkley trying to whip one into the bottom left from distance. It’s an easy snaffle for Fabianski.
17 min: Alonso in space on the left. I should keep that phrase on the clipboard. He sends a cross along the corridor of uncertainty. Abraham flicks on when he might have been better going for goal. Pulisic tries to keep the move alive but his delivery from the right instigates nothing more than a brief game of pinball, and West Ham clear.
15 min: Chelsea get back on the front foot. A lot of probing and passing in the West Ham final third. Kovacic nearly sashays into the box from the left but the hosts hold their shape and eventually clear. It’s been a good game so far. Both teams will be happy enough in their own way.
13 min: After all that Chelsea possession, it’s West Ham who nearly take the lead. Rice hassles Barkley in the midfield and plays forward for Bowen, who finds Antonio to his right. Antonio suddenly turns on the jets and bursts into the box. He’s one on one with Kepa! But he drags his shot across the face of goal and well wide of the left-hand post. What a chance that was. A big miss, but it’s an energetic move that will give the Hammers heart.
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12 min: West Ham launch their first attack of the night. It’s a long throw from the left by Antonio. Soucek wins a flick-on, but Bowen can’t control or get a shot away and is eventually penalised for shoving.
11 min: Even more space for Alonso down the left. He lays off to Willian, who drifts inside and curls a decent effort towards the top right. It’s a little bit too close to Fabianski, though, and the keeper claims. It’s all Chelsea.
9 min: Chelsea are wearing their 2020-21 kit for the first time tonight. New sponsor, 60s-style collar, the lot. It’s very fetching.
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7 min: Willian bursts down the right and curls a cross towards nobody in the middle. Fabianski gathers. West Ham are struggling to retain possession.
5 min: From the corner, Azpilicueta misses a chance to flick goalwards at the near post. Then Alonso, busy in these opening exchanges, tries an overhead kick. He makes contact, but the ball sails softly and harmlessly into the arms of Fabianski. A lively start by the visitors.
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4 min: More space for Alonso down the left, sent clear by a raking diagonal pass from Willian. He wins a corner off Fredericks.
3 min: Alonso whips in a cross from the left. It very nearly finds Kovacic, who had opened up his body with a view to sidefooting goalwards from six yards. But Ogbonna clears.
2 min: The finding of feet.
Chelsea will kick off ... but not before a knee is taken. Black lives matter.
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Here come the teams. West Ham in claret, Chelsea in blue, pretty bubbles in the air. We’ll be off before you know it.
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Then it’s the turn of Frank Lampard. “It’s not an easy call between Olivier Giroud and Tammy Abraham. They bring different attributes. Tammy did well against Leicester, and I have to make changes because there are games every three days. We have to focus on ourselves, but we’re obviously aware of the teams around us, Manchester United, Wolves and Leicester. We’re in a pretty good position at the business end, and mentality is as key as anything. It’s a really important time for us.”
David Moyes speaks! “If it was a one-off match tonight, Mark Noble could have made it. But he’s feeling his hamstring and we’ve just got too many games coming. Chelsea have always been renowned for having good teams, but we’ll have a go tonight. I saw them against Man City last week, as most people did, and they did very well.”
But there’s a pre-match boost for Chelsea, too. Leicester City continue to stumble, losing at Everton this evening. That means third spot is up for grabs. Frank Lampard’s side will leapfrog the Foxes if they win this evening. Leicester still haven’t won since the big restart.
Good news for West Ham ahead of tonight’s quest for precious points. Two of the three teams directly below them, Norwich City and Bournemouth, have suffered dreadful four-goal shellackings in the round of 6pm kick-offs. Both appear to be heading down the Swanee at a rate of knots.
Both teams make two changes to their last Premier League starting XIs. First up, West Ham, who lost their last match 2-0 at Tottenham Hotspur. Their captain Mark Noble is injured, and is replaced by Manuel Lanzini, while Angelo Ogbonna is fit again and comes in for Fabian Balbuena. Declan Rice is their stand-in captain.
Chelsea’s previous league fixture was their 2-1 deposing of Manchester City. Mateo Kovacic replaces Mason Mount in the Chelsea midfield, while Olivier Giroud makes way for Tammy Abraham up front.
The teams
West Ham United: Fabianski, Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice, Soucek, Bowen, Lanzini, Fornals, Antonio.
Subs: Balbuena, Yarmolenko, Felipe Anderson, Wilshere, Ajeti, Xande Silva, Randolph, Johnson, Lewis.
Chelsea: Kepa, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger, Alonso, Barkley, Kante, Kovacic, Willian, Abraham, Pulisic.
Subs: Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Caballero, Zouma, Giroud, Mount, Hudson-Odoi, James, Gilmour.
Referee: Martin Atkinson (West Yorkshire).
Preamble
West Ham United need to turn their form around and sharpish. They start the month of July one place outside the relegation places; by the end of it, they could be in next season’s Championship. Reason being, they’ve lost five of their last six matches, eight of the last 11. David Moyes is happy to tell folk how winning is what he does; now’s the time to start showing as well.
Admittedly that dismal run was never going to be easy. Those 11 matches included visits to Leicester, Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool, and they had to play the new champions at Anfield as well. Throw in home matches against Wolves and Everton, and points were always going to come at a premium. But relegation form is relegation form is relegation form, and the Hammers have to snap out of their funk quicksmart.
Only problem is, tonight’s visitors Chelsea are flying. They’ve won their last five matches, three in the league, two in the cup, and Frank Lampard’s side can cite a tricky run of fixtures too: Liverpool, Manchester City and Leicester are among the vanquished, while Everton were ravaged 4-0. A sense that something is gently stirring at Chelsea. They’ll hope to continue pushing for a place in next year’s Champions League.
So on the face of it, you’d expect the Blues to prevail in this one. Then again, West Ham won at Stamford Bridge last November, in one of the few standout performances of their dismal season, one that should give them some desperately needed confidence. Therefore this, my dear MBM buddies, is perfectly poised! Goals, drama and entertainment are all very much a possibility. It’s on!
Kick off: 8.15pm BST.
