By Betsefy
Chelsea have returned to winning ways courtesy of a dramatic 2-1 victory over London rivals West Ham United at Stamford Bridge this evening.
Thomas Tuchel‘s side spent more than £250m during the summer transfer window – more than any Premier League club has ever spent in one window – and handed a debut to their most expensive arrival as Wesley Fofana started in a back three.
It was the defences that were on top throughout the opening hour too, and it took 62 minutes for the first shot on target to arrive when Jarrod Bowen tested Edouard Mendy with a volley.
That shot led to the corner which provided the opening goal, as Michail Antonio turned home Declan Rice‘s pass after Mendy had failed to adequately deal with a flick-on.
After a slow start, the bulk of the drama arrived inside the final 15 minutes as Chelsea fought back to prevent themselves from suffering back-to-back league defeats for the first time under Tuchel.
Ben Chilwell levelled things up from a tight angle as he poked the ball through the legs of Lukasz Fabianski, who will have been disappointed with how slowly he got out to it.
The Hammers almost regained their lead in the 87th minute when Maxwel Cornet exchanged passes with Said Benrahma, getting onto the latter’s cross into the box but only finding the outside of the post with his header.
It was a moment which proved even more pivotal just one minute later when Chelsea went up the other end and scored what proved to be the winner as Chilwell turned provider, feeding the ball into the near post where Kai Havertz was waiting to nod home.
Tuchel’s jubilation turned back to despair moments later when Bowen beat Mendy to the ball, forcing the Chelsea keeper to palm it into the path of Cornet, who finished to send the away fans wild.
However, VAR intervened and controversially ruled that Bowen had fouled Mendy, chalking the goal off and ultimately handing an under-pressure Chelsea a much-needed win.
The result leaves Chelsea fifth in the table despite a relatively underwhelming start to the campaign, whereas West Ham drop into the relegation zone having taken just four points from their opening six games.
