Chelsea 3-0 West Ham United
Premier League
West Ham United were punished by a clinical Chelsea side as they fell to a 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge on Monday night.
The visitors could feel hard done by at the margin of the Blues’ victory, after dominating possession in the second half and putting the home side under real pressure, before Tammy Abraham sealed the points for his side with a late double.
Ultimately, the Blues were rewarded for showing a more ruthless streak, establishing a tenth minute lead through centre-back Thiago Silva, then weathering that Hammers storm and inflicting just a second defeat in seven Premier League games on the visitors.
Declan Rice had the ball in the net early on, making a sharp run to catch Chelsea cold from a quickly taken free-kick, round Edouard Mendy and finish from a tight angle.
A raised flag from assistant referee Dan Cook cut short his celebrations, and a quick VAR check confirmed the Hammers’ No41 had strayed just offside.
Chelsea took a breath, gathered themselves and quickly struck at the other end. From a West Ham perspective it was far too simple as Thiago Silva was allowed to run unchecked to meet Mason Mount’s corner with a powerful header that gave Lukasz Fabianski no chance.
The hosts looked in the mood and had the Hammers under the pump for the next ten minutes.
Mason Mount was a real threat, popping up on the right hand side to send a series of testing deliveries into the box, but West Ham survived that spell and began to ask Chelsea questions of their own.
Tomas Soucek sent a volley thudding into Thiago Silva’s midriff, while Declan Rice was inches away from picking out Pablo Fornals with a cut-back, but still Chelsea were full of menace when they were allowed to run at the Hammers with pace.
Two minutes before the break Christian Pulisic had the opportunity to do just that, drawing the defenders before nudging left to Timo Werner. The German only had Fabianski to beat, but couldn’t get the ball out of his feet and shot at the visiting keeper’s legs.
Sebastien Haller saw a header skim off his forehead and slide wide of the mark as David Moyes’ men looked for a quick start to the second half.
The Hammers had the bit between their teeth by now and pushed Chelsea back for much of the third quarter of the contest, Fornals went close, forcing Cesar Azpilicueta to make a last-gasp block after Jarrod Bowen’s right-wing cross skipped all the way through the penalty area to the Spaniard.
Chelsea, to their credit, were remaining firm in their defensive work and that gave them the platform to finish the game off inside the final twelve minutes thanks to a quickfire Abraham brace.
First, the home No9 steered home from close range when he took advantage of a static Hammers backline to stay onside and convert a mishit Werner shot.
Then, just two minutes later, he was the man on the spot to gobble up the loose ball after Fabianski saved Pulisic’s header from point-blank range.
Chelsea: Mendy, Azpilicueta, Zouma, Thiago Silva, Chilwell (Emerson 9), Kante, Jorginho (Kovacic 66), Mount, Pulisic (Havertz 84), Abraham, Werner
Subs: Kepa, Rudiger, Christensen, Gilmour, Hudson-Odoi, Giroud
Goals: Thiago Silva 10, Abraham 78, 80
West Ham United: Fabianski, Coufal, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice, Noble, Soucek, Bowen (Fredericks 90), Fornals (Benrahma 66), Haller
Subs: Randolph, Martin, Johnson, Diop, Dawson, Snodgrass, Yarmolenko
Referee: Chris Kavanagh