Emerson Palmieri believes West Ham United got exactly what they deserved from Sunday’s 3-1 victory against his former side Chelsea.
The Irons had to fight, scrap, and claw for every ball at London Stadium after taking the early lead through Nayef Aguerd’s headed finish from James Ward-Prowse’s corner.
Chelsea levelled through Carney Chukwuemeka and could have gone ahead through Enzo Fernández too, only for Alphonse Areola to deny the Argentina international from the penalty spot.
Still, after Michail Antonio put the Hammers in front early in the second half, and Aguerd was sent--off for a second bookable offence, the Irons held out valiantly, adding a third goal through Lucas Paquetá’s added-time penalty to secure all three points. It was Emerson who won that penalty, too, supporting his close friend high up the pitch before exchanging passes and being felled by Chelsea substitute Moisés Caicedo.
“It’s always special to play against Chelsea and win too,” Emerson said, alluding to opponents he represented 71 times before crossing London. “I have a lot of respect for them, for the club, but I am fighting for West Ham and I’m happy with the win.
“It's not easy for us when you lose a man, especially when it’s a defender. You need to run more and there was more space to cover against Chelsea’s wide players, so it was tough, but we were able to do it and hold on.
“It was a tough game. We fought a lot for these three points and, of course, it was against a big team. We know games against Chelsea are going to be tough but we fought for every ball and all the space on the pitch. We got what we deserved, and we enjoyed winning this match.”
The full-back highlighted set-pieces and counter-attacks as essential to getting the win against the Blues, with those options showing their importance at London Stadium.
It was his swashbuckling run down the left that brought that penalty in injury-time.
“We knew they would probably have more possession than us," he added. "We knew they would try to control the game but when we got the ball, we had to find spaces and put our own strategy into place.
“We knew set-pieces and counter-attacking would be important and that’s where we got our goals from. Against these teams, you have to make the most of your opportunities to score, and we did that.”
The influence of two new Hammers in Ward-Prowse and Edison Álvarez was felt in the win and, with another season involving European football ahead for West Ham, Emerson is anticipating both players having a crucial role across various competitions.
“We’re a good team,” he added. “We’ve lost a couple of players, who were very good for us [in Declan Rice and Manuel Lanzini], but we’ve got Álvarez and Ward-Prowse, and we’re a good team this year too.
“We’re like a family here. We’ve got a long season ahead of us, with a lot of big games in the Premier League and UEFA Europa League, but we’re looking forward to it.”
