West Ham 3 - Chelsea 1 Match report

 

Pressure increases on Rafa as West Ham brush Chelsea aside

Chelsea’s season hit a new low today as they slipped to a damaging 3-1 defeat against a spirited West Ham side in the early London derby at Upton Park.

The Hammers fully deserved their victory against the struggling blues, with second half goals from Carlton Cole, Mohamed Diame and Maiga consigning Rafa Benitez to his first defeat as interim boss, and leaving Chelsea without a win in seven Premier League games.

It was Chelsea who started the game brighter, zipping the ball round with growing confidence in the first half. Benitez had spoken of the need to quicken the attacking tempo, and it was evident that his words were having an effect. Juan Mata ran the first half with his guile and intelligent passing, and capped it off with a fine finish from Torres’ cutback.

Changes were needed by Sam Alladyce at half time, with West Ham in dire need of more drive in the midfield. Sending on Matty Taylor and Mohamed Diame, West Ham came out fighting; battling harder for every ball, and showing much more adventure in the final third.

They fully deserved an equaliser, and it duly arrived courtesy of Carlton Cole, who rose higher than Ivanovic to knock the ball past a static Peter Cech following a Jarvis cross.

The Hammers went from strength to strength, consistently putting the beleaguered Blues to sword. It was no real surprise then when Man-of-the-match Diame fired in West Ham’s second from the edge of the box, leaving Chelsea with a mountain to climb with just ten minutes to go.

The fight-back never materialised, and with Blues fans starting up their ‘Rafa out’ chants, West Ham put the game to bed with Maiga slotting in a rebound after Taylor had his initial effort palmed away by Cech.

With two draws and a loss today, Benitez’s position as a figure of hate for Chelsea fans has only been further consolidated. He said that he would win over the fans by winning games and trophies, but with every passing game, his job of changing fans opinions over his acrimonious appointment becomes seemingly more and more hopeless.