Chelsea stooped to a new low yesterday as their trip to Upton Park saw their £50m man, draw a blank once again.West Ham United hosted Chelsea in the wake of Wednesday’s defeat to Manchester United, but the Hammers weren’t going to bow out to an early goal this time. Chelsea took the lead early on through a Juan Mata goal, as the Spaniard slotted the ball into the back of the West Ham goal with ease. Leading 1-0, Chelsea thought they were about to break their duck as they played their way around a troubled West Ham side.The interval saw West Ham make two substitutions with Gary O’Neil and James Tomkins being replaced by Matthey Taylor and fan favourite, Mohammed Diame. Due to an Andy Carroll injury, it was up to former Chelsea striker, Carlton Cole to lead the line for the Hammers. Despite a wrongly disallowed Kevin Nolan goal, West Ham constantly rattled the Chelsea door before levelling the score line through a Cole header which left Chelsea keeper, Petr Cech flat footed, this goal, however, should have been disallowed due to foul play, which saw Ivanovic clambered upon by goal scorer Cole. The second West Ham goal involved Cole once again as he attempted to prove his worth to the team, posterior to the Andy Carroll loan deal, which has saw the start of Cole becoming a bench warmer for the East London side. It was Cole how superbly knocked the ball backwards to Senegal star, Mohammed Diame who smashed the ball into the back of the Chelsea net despite Cech getting a toe to the ball. Interim manager, Rafael Benitez was left glum-faced as his 10 days at Chelsea, went from bad to worse.
Minutes from time, West Ham grabbed a third to seal the 3 points as substitute Modibo Maiga made an instant impact, latching onto a loose ball before calmly powering the ball into the centre of Cech’s goal sending the West Ham staff into ruptures as manager, Sam Allardyce jumped around in ecstatic jubilation.This was the first time West Ham had defeated Chelsea since 2003 when Italian legend Paolo Di Canio scored the winning goal. 10 days after Rafa Benitez took charge of Chelsea, the blues find themselves in trouble, picking up a mere 2 points from 3 games, scoring only 1 goal.
This brilliant win over their London rivals, leaves West Ham lying 8th in the premier league, above former giants Liverpool and Arsenal who have both performed appallingly this season. The Hammers are set to host Liverpool next weekend with the reds top goal scorer, and only fit striker, out through picking up a ban. The reds are most likely in for a long day as the Hammers form continues to get better, and the confidence at Upton Park begins to assist West Ham in battering any opponent they face.
Chelsea, despite poor form of recent times, sit 3rd.
The Hammers are also set to host giants, Manchester United in the 3rd round of the Fa Cup. This tie will be played on either the 5th or 6th of January 2013.
Referee, Atkinson branded three yellow cards in this stunner of a game as West Ham’s Mark Noble, and Chelsea’s duo of Petr Cech and Mikel, all picked up yellows. Petr Cech was lucky to escape red after he punched the ball, outside of his box, denying West Ham a clear chance on goal.
Upton Park was rocking this Saturday as 35,005 fans went to spectate their clubs in this London derby, Chelsea fans obviously didn’t go home too happy as they paid money to watch their beloved club get destroyed by Mohammed Diame who picked up the man of The Match award. West Ham fans, however, sang their hearts out from start to finish, as they are famous for, and after recently getting voted as the loudest ground in English Football, West Ham will be soon singing the praises of manager Sam Allardyce who has worked wonders at the club.
Despite West ham’s dominance on the pitch, the stats didn’t really reflect it, as the hammers only had 45% of ball possession, whereas the blues had 55%.
Both teams, however, had 16 shots, although West Ham were the more clinical, getting 13 of theirs on target, Chelsea will be kicking themselves after they hit the target a mere 6 times, and blew their chances of 3 points early in the first half, missing chance after chance.
West Ham’s dominance was portrayed through their corner tally which rose to 14, whereas a glum Chelsea side only drew 5 from their opposition.
Thank you for reading,
And up the hammers!!
A fantastic start to a relegation tipped season, and personally i hope we keep hold of Sam Allardyce for many more years.
COYI