West Ham fell to their first defeat for over a month as table toppers Chelsea put the sword to the Hammers at Stamford Bridge on the early kick off on a Boxing Day packed with football.
Sam Allardyce rested a few key names, most notably Diafra Sakho and Alex Song, ahead of a gruelling period which sees West Ham play 3 games in 6 days.
Stewart Downing and Mark Noble got the game underway and within 30 seconds West Ham nearly found themselves a goal to the good in rather fortuitous circumstances, as straight from the kick off Enner Valencia raced up the flank and flashed a ball past the far post. However the Hammers early momentum didn’t continue and Chelsea showed just why they are so feared at home as West Ham’s defence went to sleep letting Oscar creep in behind Jenkinson, however the Brazilian blazed over the bar to let off the Hammers. Only four minutes played. Chelsea have a real power going forward, if not easy to go down to the ground, as Eden Hazard stretched the capabilities of on loan Jenkinson. Chelsea’s crisp passing movements troubled West Ham as the visitors failed to a get a hold of the game – though Chelsea’s domination would’ve been foreseen by Allardyce.
The Hammers ventured into Chelsea’s half a few times, but the might of the Blues defensive unit repelled them with relative ease. And, after a half controlled by the home side, Chelsea’s breakthrough finally came courtesy of John Terry. Fabregas’ corner found Diego Costa who in turn found captain Terry who had the ever so easy job of poking home from about three yards out. That goal did nothing to harm the Blues confidence and they searched got a season and from a West Ham point of view the referee, Michael Oliver, was helping them out. Ivanovic claimed to have been obstructed by Andy Carroll in added on time; no penalty given. Half time, Chelsea lead 1-0 in the London derby.
Source: chelseafc.com
With the second half underway West Ham seemed to have more of a grip of things as both teams saw equal amounts of the ball but Chelsea’s clear gulf in class was clear for everybody there to see and they continually threatened Adrian’s goal. And three minutes after Song and Sakho replaced Noble and Carroll Chelsea found their second of the afternoon. Kouyaté losing the ball on the half way line allowed Hazard to run at the Hammers defence feeding Costa in who danced his way round Collins and Jenkinson. 2-0. The Blues again picked up from where they left off and forced pressure onto the East Londoners; however Adrian was up to the task. It took West Ham until the very latter stages of the game to force any real pressure on the Chelsea goal – substitute Morgan Amalfitano weaving his way inside the Chelsea defence and beating Courtois but not beating the post. Very unlucky for the Frenchman. West Ham finished the Boxing Day fixture strongly but it just was not to be. Final score: 2-0 Chelsea.
Hard to pick any real standout players in a loss like today’s but Song, Valencia and Adrian handled the game well all things considering. Jenkinson not so much and he will miss Sunday’s fixture due to a condition in his loan contract meaning he cannot play against his parents club. Kouyaté, also, he struggled to find the form that he had pre-injury. Arsenal next…
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