West Ham United 0-1 Chelsea
Chelsea cemented their position in fourth place in the Premier League on Saturday after a hard fought victory over West Ham.
Timo Werner fired the Blues head at the end of a tight first half and there were chances at both ends in the second, but Chelsea ran out winners as West Ham finished the game with ten men. The two teams began the game locked on 55 points from 32 games but Chelsea have struck a serious blow to the Hammers’ Champions League hopes while greatly improving their own position.
In other Premier League 2021 news, in the early Saturday kick-off Liverpool led against Newcastle United from the third minute when Mo Salah scored, until the Magpies equalised in the 95th after the Reds wasted a string of great chances. That result meant Chelsea and West Ham would end the weekend fourth and fifth and the Blues took advantage moving four points ahead of Liverpool with just five games to play.
Highlights of the game
Chelsea dismantled Crystal Palace in their last London derby, a couple of weeks ago, but they found West Ham much more difficult to break down in this game. Mason Mount turned superbly and drew a smart save from Lukasz Fabianski, on ten minutes, and Timo Werner did well to put Christian Pulisic in on goal but he shot weekly and Fabianski gathered easily.
Jesse Lingard has been in irresistible form since his loan move from Manchester United, scoring nine goals and making three assists, and he tried to create something for the Hammers, driving forward and firing a shot which cannoned off the Chelsea defence and to safety. And then the hosts came close to taking the lead after a set piece fell to Tomas Soucek who’s effort was heading in until it hit Cesar Azpilicueta and bounced to safety. That was the nearest we came to a goal in the opening half until Werner fired the Blues ahead on 43 minutes.
West Ham United’s Tomas Soucek in action with Chelsea’s Thiago Silva
Chelsea had been under the cosh but they struck against the run of play, breaking quickly, and when Ben Chilwell pulled the ball into the middle of the penalty area Werner had timed his run perfectly to slide an unstoppable shot home.
The Blues started the second half brightly and when Werner passed to Mason Mount, some 25 yards out, he hit a thunderous shot which Fabianski did well to save. West Ham had to come out and try to get back into the game, and Pablo Fornals had a good chance but he failed to test Eduard Mendy in the Chelsea goal. Lingard gave the Blues more scares though, first firing in a free-kick which Mendy saved and then, on the hour, lifting a volley just wide of the far post.
As the game opened up Chelsea continued to threaten at the other end, and Werner, now full of confidence, cut in and unleashed a shot towards Fabianski’s near post but the keeper saved well again.
It hadn’t been a dirty game but the Hammers were down to ten men after 80 minutes when Fabian Balbuena cleared a ball and followed through on Chilwell. He was high, but it would have been difficult to avoid the collision and he was unlucky when the ref checked VAR and brandished a red card.
Key statistics
Chelsea are unbeaten in all ten of their away games under Thomas Tuchel, in all competitions, winning eight and drawing two. He is the first Chelsea manager in history to reach this milestone.
And this was the Blues’ ninth Premier League double over the Hammers, who have just lost a five match unbeaten run at home.
Werner doesn’t look like a striker short of belief but his first half strike was only the German’s second goal in the last 23 games.
What’s next?
Chelsea fans have a great few weeks to look forward to. They have a good chance to win the FA Cup when they meet Leicester City in the final next month. The Blues are at odds of 1.53, here at SBOTOP, and are strong favourites to win the trophy but they meet a Leicester team full of quality and higher in the league table, up in third.
Next up Thomas Tuchel’s side have a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid to look forward to after they saw off a quarter final challenge from Porto. They are in Madrid next Tuesday and then host Los Blancos the following week, and in between those mouth-watering ties the Blues have a Premier League date at home to relegation threatened Fulham.
At the start of this campaign the Premier League 2021 betting odds featured the Hammers in the relegation stakes; not the race for Champions League football. But they have enjoyed a superb season and they have another crunch game in two weeks time against Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton, who are also chasing a top four spot. But before that the Hammers have a tricky away game to Burnley, who still need points to guarantee their survival in the top flight.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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