Graham Potter probably feels he didn’t have a lot of luck during his short time as manager at Stamford Bridge. Some things in football just don’t change.
Potter is now a manager in West Ham colours and his eight months at Chelsea a fading memory. Here his new team were more than a match for his old but came away with nothing thanks to some questionable refereeing and, a few minutes later, an own goal.
West Ham were a goal up and good for it as we passed the hour mark here in West London. Jarrod Bowen – back from injury and the best player on the field – had latched on to a weak Levi Colwill back pass to score just before half-time.
That goal had come against the run of play but not chances. West Ham had some good ones. By the time, Chelsea found a way back in to the game, however, their opponents were the dominant force in the game.
The equaliser – scored by Chelsea substitute Pedro Neto just after the hour – was controversial for two reasons.
First, Bowen seemed to be obstructed by Colwill in the build up but nothing was given. Then, moments later, Marc Cucurella looked offside when hooking the ball back for Neto to score after an Enzo Fernandez shot had been blocked. VAR deemed the ball had reached Cucurella off a West Ham defender but it was a questionable call.
Cole Palmer celebrates after playing a big part in Chelsea’s opening goal
Palmer’s cross from the left was turned into his own net by defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Both sets of players watch on as Palmer’s cross flies into the West Ham net in the second half
Goals can change the mood of games, as we know, and this one did. Chelsea had been drifting before their equaliser but were ahead ten minutes later when Cole Palmer drove round the left edge of the West Ham back line to deliver a cross that span in tom the net off Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s outstretched leg.
So this was a big win for Chelsea. Enzo Maresca’s team are back in the top four of the Premier League. For West Ham, signs of Potter progress are clear. After five games in charge, though, he has just one win and that perhaps indicates the size of the task.
After his difficulties in the defeat at Manchester City nine days ago, Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was finally invited to spend a night on the substitutes bench. It was a decision that had been coming and he was replaced by Filip Jorgensen, making his third league start.
The 22-year-old wasn’t overly troubled for much of a first half that Chelsea dominated. When West Ham took the lead against the run of play three minutes before half-time, it was a misfortune entirely of Chelsea’s own making.
Bowen’s return from injury was always going to lend West Ham some potency. Potter had arrived at the club with barely a healthy striker in the building but with Bowen now fit, firing and scoring and Evan Ferguson signed from Brighton, he suddenly has more options.
It hadn’t been a goal that was coming, though. Not remotely. Potter’s West Ham were well structured in their 3-4-2-1 formation. They looked secure on the whole. But they did struggle to escape Chelsea’s territorial grip for long spells and had Maresca’s team been a little more in tune with their finishing then they may well have found themselves ahead before their opponents did.
Chelsea certainly had control of the midfield for long periods. Moises Caicedo – a Potter player during his time here and at Chelsea – was excellent and ahead of him he had willing runners in Noni Mudueke and Jadon Sancho.
Mudueke was close to scoring in the fifteenth minute, curling a shot across goal and wide after he had been released down the right by Nicolas Jackson. Shortly after that Jackson laid the ball back to Cole Palmer 20 yards from goal and he placed a shot over.
That tended to be the way of it for Chelsea. Their build play was pretty much on-point but beyond that they were wanting.
Left-back Marc Cucurella leaped well only to head wide when he may have done better in the 25th minute before Mudueke played Enzo Fernandez in with a cute pass only for the Argentina international to roll his shot across the goalkeeper and wide.
In amongst all this, West Ham had managed the odd moment on the counter and maybe with hindsight these had served as warnings of some Chelsea defensive vulnerability. Jorgensen had fumbled an early cross from Andy Irving, a 24-year-old Scot making his first league start. Bowen had also found space to shoot against the goalkeeper’s legs after a corner in the 19th minute while Irving volleyed over from distance a minute later. Then, in the 38th minute, Mohammed Kudus had somehow been left free to run to a long pass from Aaron Cresswell and shoot in to the goalkeeper’s midriff.
So, yes, the warnings had been there and three minutes before the interval – just after Jadon Sancho had twice threatened at the other end – Chelsea fell apart a little bit.
A clearance from the West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola was headed on by Vladimir Coufal and when Kudus hurried Levi Colwill in to a poor back pass, Bowen intercepted to run clear and finish with his left instep.
If West Ham were invigorated by the goal then Chelsea failed palpably to find a response. For the first 15 minutes of the second period, the home team were absolutely awful.
Where they once had possession and territory, now Maresca’s side were on the back foot. West Ham wing-back Emerson slashed wildly over when composure was needed and then Bowen played a smart one-two in the penalty area with Carlos Soler only for his low shot to be blocked.
Chelsa were a little lost and a little confused. Maresca’s response was to make substitutions, four in all before the hour mark. Indeed when the 60 minute mark rolled around, his team had only managed one second half touch in the West Ham penalty area.
It was all to change, though. Was Bowen fouled by Levi Colwill as he chased the ball in the Chelsea half moments before the equaliser? It seemed so. Equally, Cucurella seemed offside when he pulled back a flick from Marc Guiu before Neto smashed in the goal from 10 yards. VAR could not decide whether the ball had come off the Chelsea player or a West Ham head so the goal was allowed to stand.
It was the piece of good fortune Chelsea needed to get themselves back into the game and ten minutes later they got another as Palmer’s cross from the left was deflected in by Wan-Bissaka as he reached out a foot to block the ball.
On the touchline Potter looked rather rueful and it was no surprise. Moments before the second goal, Kudus had hit the post with a diving header. The margins on the night really were that fine.